Twitter Reactions: Bangladesh prevail over Afghanistan in last over drama to win first T20I in Sylhet

Bangladesh chased down the target of 155 on the penultimate ball and won by two wickets.

By Rishabh Beniwal

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Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka 2012
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Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka 2012. (Photo Source: Twitter)

After being humbled by Afghanistan in the ODI series by 1-2, Bangladesh were determined to turn things around in the T20I series as the two teams locked horns in the first T20I on Friday, July 14, at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium, Sylhet. Bangladesh Captain Shakib-al-Hasan won the toss and invited Afghanistan to bat first.

The decision was vindicated by Nasum Ahmed who got rid of the opener Hazratullah Zazai (8 off 10) in the third over of the innings with 16 runs on the board. Rahmanullah Gurbaz (16 off 11) also couldn’t keep his fireworks going for long as he fell prey to Taskin Ahmed in the fourth over of the innings.

Ibrahim Zadran (8 off 6) and Karim Janat (3 off 9) also failed to notch up a big score leaving their side in all sorts of trouble at 52/4 after 7.4 overs. Seeing his side in trouble, Mohammad Nabi became the thread that held the innings together as he scored a splendid half-century (54* off 40).

He was well supported by Najibullah Zadran (23 off 23) and Azmatullah Omarzai (33 off 18) who helped Afghanistan reach 154/7 in their allotted 20 overs.

In the second innings, Fazalhaq Farooqi continued his brilliant form from the ODI series removing opener Rony Talukdar (4 off 5) in the first over itself. After the early breakthrough, Afghanistan bowlers were all over Bangladesh. They managed to get big scalps of Najmul Hossain Shanto (14 off 12), Litton Das (18 off 19) and Shakib Al Hasan (19 off 17) to leave the hosts reeling at 64/4 after 10.1 overs.

However, a 73-run partnership off 43 balls between Shamim Hossain (33 off 25) and Towhid Hridoy (47* off 32) brought Bangladesh back into the game. Their stand was broken by Rashid Khan who dismissed Hossain in the 18th over. Bangladesh required just seven runs off the last over with five wickets in hand and the equation further came down to 2 needed of 5.

Karim Janat's hat-trick threw the game wide open

However, a hat-trick by Karim Janat brought the wide open with Bangladesh needing 2 off 2 having two wickets in hand. Shoriful Islam turned out to be the knight in shining armour for his side as he smacked Karim Janat for a four on the penultimate delivery to take his side home. As a result, Bangladesh won the match by two wickets and one ball to spare and went 1-0 up in the three-match series.

Karim Janat was the pick of the bowlers for Afghanistan with his spell of 3/15 in 1.5 overs. Meanwhile, Twitter was abuzz with reactions on Bangladesh’s thrilling victory.

Here are some of the Tweets:

 

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Bangladesh v Afghanistan 2023AfghanistanBangladeshKarim JanatTowhid HridoyMohammad NabiBAN vs AFG