Afghanistan celebrate the whitewash over Bangladesh with a 'Naagin Dance'

The visitors agonisingly fell one run short of the target in the thrilling game.

Published - 08 Jun 2018, 14:44 IST | Updated - 08 Jun 2018, 14:44 IST

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Bangladesh invented the ‘Naagin Dance’ courtesy of their left-arm spin bowler Nazmul Hasan. Moreover, their celebrations after the controversial win over Sri Lanka in the Nidahas Trophy took it to the new level. But the same has come back to haunt them since then. Afghanistan inflicted a whitewash over them in the three-match T20I series and started doing the Naagin Dance on the field on Thursday in Dehradun.

The game was a dead rubber as the hosts had won the earlier two games and sealed the series. But Shakib Al Hasan and his men were playing for pride and prove that they are a better side than what the result suggests. They applied themselves better against the spinners in this game and also bowled well. After restricting Afghanistan to 144 in 20 overs, the chase was shepherded by the veteran Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim. It went down to the wire as they needed only 9 runs off the final over.

Rashid wields his magic again

Rashid Khan was entrusted with the responsibility of winning the game for his side yet again. He started the over with a crucial wicket of Rahim who was caught in the deep while going for a big shot even as the leggie kept on troubling the batsmen for the next few deliveries. Finally, it came down to the four runs off the last ball and the newbie, Ariful Haque was on strike who was playing his first game of the series.

He smashed the ball in the air towards the long-on which was sailing over the boundary only for Shafiqullah Shafiq to time his jump perfectly. Though he couldn’t get hold of the ball, he saved it from going to four or six with his acrobatics on the field even as the batsman was run-out while taking the third run. Mohammad Shahzad whipped off the bails in a flash and the celebrations started in their camp after the 1-run victory.

To add salt to the wounds of Bangladesh, some of the Afghanistan players started performing the Naagin Dance. They thoroughly deserved to be victorious and won the series famously by 3-0 for the first time against the Test-playing nation other than Zimbabwe.