Twitter Reactions: Afghanistan show nerves of steel in last ball thriller, whitewash Bangladesh

Afghanistan beat Bangladesh by 1 run to seal the series 3-0.

By Nikhil Anand

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2 Min Read

Afghanistan team
info
Afghanistan team. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Team Afghanistan registered a narrow one run win to whitewash the Bangladeshi side by a scoreline of 3-0. Coming in to the game, the ‘hosts’ had already sealed the series. Hence, all the pressure was on the Bangladeshi side as they had their pride to play for. Their bowlers did very well to restrict Afghanistan to 145. And some solid knocks from Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah kept them in the command of the run chase too. But in the end, it was the familiar nemesis, Rashid Khan, who managed to defend 9 in the final over to win it for his side.

Earlier in the game, Afghanistan had won the toss and opted to bat first. The Afghanistan openers managed to get a steady start in the game. Mohammad Shahzad and Usman Ghani added 55 runs for the first wicket, albeit at an uncharacteristic sluggish rate. But both openers perished in successive overs to put a sudden break on the innings. While Shahzad scored 26 off 22 balls, Ghani struggled for his 26-ball 19.

Asghar Stanikzai and Samiullah Shenwari then showed very good form with the bat to rally the innings forward. The skipper, in particular, looked in a good touch as he hit 3 sixes in his 17-ball 27. The hero of the last match, Mohammad Nabi, missed out on scoring big in the game and perished for just 3. The innings failed to tee off in the end overs. Shenwari remained unbeaten on 33 off 28 balls as the wickets constantly fell from the other end. Afghanistan finished with 145/6 in their stipulated 20 overs.

In the run chase, the experienced Bangladeshi openers failed to give a good start to their team yet again. Liton Dad was run out on 14 and Mujeeb Rahman sent Tamim Iqbal packing on 5. Soumya Sarkar’s poor run with the bat continued as he could only muster 15 in the game. Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan had the big task in hand to ensure that they saw their side through in the game.

While Mushfiqur showed great temperament for his 37-ball 45, Shakib failed to click with the bat again. In the end, the hopes were on Mahmudullah to finish things off as the game went down to the last ball. 9 runs were needed off the final over with Rashid Khan having the ball in hand. Rashid managed to show nerves of steel to defend it. On the final ball, four runs were needed.

Mahmudullah hit one that went like sailing over for a six. The long on fielder showed great athleticism to pull the ball back in the game. And he ended up inflicting a run out that handed Afghanistan a one run win. More importantly, they whitewashed Bangladesh 3-0 in the series.

Here is how the cricket world reacted to the match:

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