‌BAN vs AFG | Twitter reacts to Shanto and Nasum topple Afghanistan to equalise series tally

Eyeing a bounce back after their humiliating defeat in the series opener, Bangladesh chose to bat first under sweltering Sharjah conditions. Tanzid Hasan Tamim’s early blisters short-lived within the first powerplay before Najmul Hossain Shanto and Soumya Sarkar took on the hosts to add a 71-run partnership. With time, the pitch suited the spinners and Rashid Khan made a massive impact in the game by cleaning up Mehidy Hasan Miraz in the 33rd over. However, skipper Shanto looked robust, having surpassed the fifty mark. However, the Afghan spinners dragged the ball in their court by removing Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Shanto (76), and Mahmdullah in a space of 16 balls with the score reading 184/6. In times of need, debutant Jaker Ali stepped up with his counter-punching strokes under Nasum Ahmed’s assistance to propel the score to 252/7 in 50 overs.

In response, Afghanistan’s opening pair failed to offer a decent start with Rahmanullah Gurbaz throwing away his wicket in fishing outside the stumps. Subsequently, Sediqullah Atal and Rahmat Shah stabilised the stage with a 52-run stand before Nasum Ahmed outdid the former. While Rahmat looked sumptuous with his strokes, Hashmatullah Shahidi failed to assist him for long before Mustafizur outskilled him. Right after, Azmatullah Omarzai and Rahmat followed suit with the score of 119/5 in 30 overs. While Mohammad Nabi and Gulbadin Naib tried to build a partnership at the cue end, the finger spinners and Mustafizur didn’t let them talk with the bat for long with Afghanistan losing their last five wickets for just 21 runs.

Big win

Good performance

Better cricket 

Yup

Superb

Bowled out

What a performance

Finally

A hard fought win

Good start