Ban vs Afg Highlights: Bangladesh Hold Nerve in 8-Run Thriller

Afghanistan’s struggle in big run chases continued as they fell short once again while chasing over 150 against an Asian team in T20s. Bangladesh held their nerve to pull off a close eight-run win and keep their tournament hopes alive. The disappointment on coach Jonathan Trott’s face said it all.

Earlier in the evening, Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bat first, making as many as four changes in a must-win encounter. Saif Hassan and Tanzid Hasan Tamim set a solid foundation with a 63-run opening partnership as the Bangla openers added a partnership of more than 10 for the first time after 11 innings in the T20Is. Saif was the first one to go for 30 off 28 balls, while Tanzid hit a classy half-century, scoring 52 off 31 balls.

Skipper Litton Das had a rare failure. Towhid Hridoy got a start. Shamim Hossain and Jaker Ali struggled to get going as Bangladesh slightly lost their momentum in the second half of the innings. Nurul Hasan's cameo helped the Tigers to get to a challenging score of 154/5 in 20 overs. Wrist-spinners - Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad - were brilliant for Afghanistan and returned with a couple of wickets each, while Azmatullah Omarzai got a scalp to his name, with Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar and Fazalhaq Farooqi going for a few runs along with Mohammad Nabi.

Afghanistan Fall Short Again in Tight Run Chase Against Bangladesh

Nasum Ahmed then had Bangladesh a perfect start with the ball, trapping Sediqullah Atal on the first ball of the run chase and then got rid of Ibrahim Zadran. All pressure was on Rahmanullah Gurbaz (35 off 30), who did well to get away a couple of big hits, but with Gulbadin Naib and Mohammad Nabi failing to break free at the other end, it was too much for the wicketkeeper batter to do. 

Rishad Hossain bowled an excellent spell in the middle phase and got rid of Naib and Gurbaz in quick succession to leave Afghanistan reeling at 77/5. Azmatullah Omarzai (30 off 16) slammed three huge sixes during his stay, taking the attack to the part-time bowlers as well as Taskin Ahmed, but the latter eventually had his number to keep Afghanistan on the back foot.

Rashid Khan (20 off 11) kept Afghanistan in the hunt despite running out of partners, but once Mustafizur Rahman removed him in the 19th over, the game was all but done. Noor Ahmad (14 off 9) had some fun with Afghanistan needing 22 to win off the final over, but could only manage to reduce the defeat margin. He was the last man to get out as the Afghan Atalans were bundled out for 146.

Fizz was the most successful bowler for Bangladesh, returning with 3/28. Rishad (2/28) and Nasum (2/11) bowled magical spells and finished with a couple of scalps each along with Taskin (2/34). Saif Hassan, who bowled the three overs to fill the fifth bowler's quota along with Shamim Hossain Patwari, was taken for 20 runs by Omarzai and it was a stage when the game could have gone either way.

Narrowest Defeats for Afghanistan by Runs in T20Is:

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