Bangladesh survive scare to take lead with Afghanistan romp

Nurul Hasan and Rishad Hossain held their nerves to lead the fight back as Bangladesh survived a Rashid Khan scare to register a nervy four-wicket win over Afghanistan in their first T20I match in Sharjah.

They added an unbeaten 33-run for the seventh wicket to take Bangladesh over the line after Rashid picked up four wickets for 18 runs to lead a miraculous comeback for Afghanistan.

Nurul chipped in with a 13-ball 23 cameo and Rishad scored an unbeaten 10 after Bangladesh had brought themselves on the brink of losing after very strong start g

Bangladesh openers Tanzid Hasan and Parvez Hossain Emom played brilliant knocks as they added 109 runs for the first wicket to set the tone for a successful chase.

They toyed with the renowned Afghanistan spin attack. Afghanistan have world class spinners, who can change the complexion of any game on any turf and it was evident once again.

But they Bangladeshi openers not only kept them at bay but also scored freely all over the ground. The chase was facilitated by the sloppy Afghanistan fielders, who dropped quite a few catches.

Emon, when batting on 27, was dropped twice off Nabi in the fifth over. He slogged Nabi towards long off, Gurbaz came in running but the ball fell just short of him. Two balls later, Fareed put down a regulation catch at the third man, which must have left Nabi fuming and Emom giggling secretly.

Emon capitalised on the chance and went on to add 27 more runs to his score. He was the more brutal of the two as he sprinted to his fifty with a single in just 35 balls, hitting four boundaries and three sixes. Tanzid also completed his fifty in 34 balls before perishing.

Fareed gave Afghanistan the much-needed breakthrough as he trapped Emom in front of wickets in the 11.4 overs as Bangladesh lost their first wicket for 109.

Emom dismissal ignited a collapse which will go down in the annals of game as one of the best come back by a bowling side.

Bangladesh started losing the wickets in bulk as Rashid ripped through the spineless middle-order, exposing the frailty of Bangladesh batting line-up.

Rashid tore apart the Bangladeshi middle-order. The wily spinner got rid of Saif Ali and Tanzid in the same over as Bangladesh lost three wickets within a span of two runs.

Bangladeshi batters started wilting under pressure. From a strong position of 109/0, they brought themselves into a precarious situation.

Rashid returned in the 15th over to haunt Bangladesh again. He trapped Jaker Ali and Shamim Hossain in the same over to leave them in tatters.

Noor Ahmed caught Tanzim plumb in front to heap more misery as Bangladesh lost six wickets within nine runs to be reduced to 118/6 from 109/0 before Nurul and Rishad joined hands to take past the target.

Earlier, Afghanistan got off to a decent start as the openers Ibrahim Zadran and Sadiqullah Atal accumulated 25 runs in just 3.3 overs for the first wicket partnership.

Not only Nasum broke the partnership but also triggered a collapse and derailed the innings. He flighted a slower delivery, inviting Zadran to come down and the batsman got trapped. But he failed to make any connection as the ball clattered the stumps.

His dismissal opened the floodgates for Bangladesh bowlers as Afghanistan lost four wickets in quick succession.

Atal was the next to follow as Tanzim Hasan Sakib had the Afghanistan opener caught by Parvez Hossain to make it 31/2. Atal could not read a short ball which bounced abruptly after hitting the deck. The ball brushed on to his gloves and landed in the safe hands of Parvez at the first slip.

Darwish Rasooli was found short of ground after a mix-up. Gurbaz hit the ball at mid-off and ran for a single. Rasooli was stuck at the non-striker end. On seeing Gurbaz near his crease, Rasooli sacrificed his wicket.

Afghanistan lost another wicket without adding any run to their total. They were 31/3 suddenly from 25/0 at one stage.

Now, Afghanistan needed a big partnership but Bangladeshi bowlers had some different plans. They wanted to wipe off the top order completely. Rishad Hossain got rid of Mohammad Ishaq to make 40/4.

Afghanistan were looking for a partnership but every time they tried to make a stride forward they were pushed back by two by the charged-up Bangladeshi bowlers.

Gurbaz was waging a lone battle at the other end as the wickets kept on tumbling. He shared two vital partnerships to revive the innings.

Gurbaz and Azmatullah Omarzai added 35 runs for the fifth wicket to take the score to 73/4 before Omarzai became the second victim of Rishad.

Omarzai tried to slog a delivery, dragging it from out the off stumps in a bid to play on the leg side but could manage to find Sakib at the long on.

Mohammad Nabi played a cameo of 25-ball 38 to take the innings forward. He added 22 and 32 runs with Gurbaz and Sharafuddin Ashraf for the sixth and the seventh wickets respectively.

Gurbaz could not convert his good start into fifty and fell short by 10 runs. His inning was studded with two hits to the fence and three over it.

Nabi smashed a 25-ball 38, second highest score of the innings, with the help of four sixes to take the score to a respectable total before Ashraf chipped in with a vital 17 off 12 as Afghanistan amassed 151/9.