BAN vs AFG 3rd ODI | Bangla Tigers Avoid WhiteWash After Shoriful's Stellar Comeback Show
Shoriful Islam bagged four wickets. [Twitter]
Brief Scores: Bangladesh- 129/3 in 23.3 overs [ Litton Das - 53* (60), Shakib Al Hasan - 39 (39); Fazalhaq Farooqi - 2/26 (5), Mohammad Nabi - 1/7 (2)] beat Afghanistan- 126/10 in 45.2 overs- [Azmatullah Omarzai - 56 (71), Hashmatullah Shahidi - 22 (54); Shoriful Islam 4/21 (9), Taskin Ahmed 2/23 (8.2) by 7wickets.
Riding on a clinical bowling performance, followed by a comfortable chase with the bat, Bangladesh edged out Afghanistan by 7 wickets in the third ODI on Tuesday, at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram. After winning the first two ODIs, Afghanistan went down in the third as Bangladesh bounced back hard and concluded the three-match series with a consolation win.
Bangladesh bowlers skittle Afghanistan for 126
Batting first, Afghanistan got off to a horrible start as they could only manage 21 runs on the board and lost four wickets as well in the first ten overs. Shoriful Islam, who didn't play the first two ODIs, did the major damage as he took three of the first four wickets for Bangladesh.
The momentum kept on growing for the hosts as they continued to take regular wickets, reducing Bangladesh to 67 for six at the halfway mark of the innings. The spin trio, comprising Shakib Al Hasan, Taijul Islam and Mehidy Hasan kept the check on the run flow and gave absolutely nothing away during the middle overs.
Afghanistan's innings never got going and Bangladesh bowled them out for a paltry 126 with more than four overs remaining. Azmatullah Omarzai was the only batter who showed some fight with the bat, took Afghanistan past the 100-run mark and scored his maiden ODI half century as well.
Shoriful Islam was clearly the pick of the bowlers for Bangladesh as he finished with a figure of 4 for 21 in his nine overs. Veteran all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan was brilliant as well as he conceded only 13 off his 10 overs and took a wicket as well.
Litton Das sees Bangladesh home
Litton Das for Bangladesh. [Twitter]
Chasing 127, Bangladesh got off to a decent start. Left-arm seamer Fazalhaq Farooqi did continue his great form with the ball as he gave Bangladesh an early setback, sending opener Mohammad Naim for an eight-ball duck and further went on to remove Najmul Shanto as well inside the first powerplay.
Shakib Al Hasan, at four, joined skipper Litton Das in the middle and made sure the hosts did not lose any further wickets inside the powerplay and finished with 43 for 2 at the end of 10th over. The duo went on to add 61 runs for the third wicket, before Shakib edged one in the air off the bowling of Mohammad Nabi.
However, Bangladesh had the game in their hands by the time Shakib departed and eventually went on to chase down the target without losing any further wickets. Litton Das top the scoring chart as he remained till the end with an unbeaten 53.
The action now moves to Sylhet where the teams will come up against each other in the two-match T20I series, scheduled to take place from Friday, July 14.
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