9:35pm That will be all from us for tonight. We hope you enjoyed our coverage and we will be back again when Afghanistan look to seal the series on Saturday. Until then, this is goodbye from Himanshu, Raghav, Thilak and myself. Take care, folks!
AM Ghazanfar is the Player of the Match for his outstanding bowling figures of 6-26! Sampath also tells me that he is the third youngest bowler to take a six-wicket haul in men's ODIs.
Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afghanistan captain: Quite happy about the performance. It was good and looking forward to the next two games. (On if he thought the score was enough) Honestly, yes. I was believing. He (Nabi) was really positive. Our discussion was that if we scored 220, it would be a good enough score. 236 was a good target here and the bowlers then did their job (smiles). The way the spinners bowled was brilliant. (On Ghazanfar) He is a special talent. Good kid, good future for Afghanistan. I trust him and that is why he is in the team and playing. First few overs also he bowled well. After the no ball, I asked him what he was doing and asked him to not do it again (laughs). (On Gurbaz and Afghanistan's depth) I am very happy. We have a lot of youngsters. We have other options available as back-ups. It is unfortunate that Ibrahim is not with us - he is our best player as an opener. Gurbaz was also injured (today) and hopefully he recovers (for the next game).
Najmul Hossain Shanto, Bangladesh captain: (On the bowling) We started very well. For 15-20 overs, we bowled really well. In the middle, we could not execute. Nabi batted brilliantly. I didn't think we needed to attack more (with the ball). The wicket had low bounce (and we had to stick to our plans). My wicket made the difference in today's game. I was the set batter and after that Miraz, even Soumya, we scored 30-40s. In these conditions, you have to bat longer. Afghanistan always have mystery spinners, everyone bowled really well and he (Ghazanfar) bowled really well. The preparation was brilliant but today was not our day, hopefully we can come back strongly in the next game.
Azweer : "11/7, 23/8. Whatta collapse..!!"
9:10pm Well, that ended rather swiftly. Bangladesh seemed in control, especially when Mehidy and Shanto were at the crease. Shanto then indulged in an ill-advised sweep stroke and then Mehidy fell. Bangladesh lost their last seven wickets for just 11 runs, with the Afghanistan spinners running rampant and leaving Bangladesh and their fans shellshocked.
Ghazanfar destroyed Bangladesh with his variations and mystery spin. Bangladesh failed to read him regularly enough and once he started running through the line-up, they just did not have any answers. Rashid kept doing his thing at the other end, with Omarzai and Nabi also coming to the party at other junctures. This was, especially when Bangladesh were cruising at 120-2, a game Afghanistan had no business winning. But they have won. And they have won it. With an enormous margin to spare. And at an absolute canter.
Shoriful Islam b Ghazanfar 1 (7m 4b 0x4 0x6) SR: 25.00
Thanks Himanshu. Ghazanfar on a hat-trick. Around the wicket to Mustafizur. Two slips and a leg slip in place
END OF OVER:34 | 4 Runs 1 Wkt | BAN: 142/9 (94 runs required from 16 overs, RR: 4.17, RRR: 5.87)
- Shoriful Islam1 (2b)
- Mustafizur Rahman2 (2b)
- Rashid Khan8-0-28-2
- AM Ghazanfar6-1-25-5
Shashwat will see you through
From around
Shoriful facing his first ball
Mustafizur
Towhid Hridoy b Rashid Khan 11 (132m 21b 0x4 0x6) SR: 52.38
END OF OVER:33 | 2 Runs 3 Wkts | BAN: 138/8 (98 runs required from 17 overs, RR: 4.18, RRR: 5.76)
- Towhid Hridoy11 (19b)
- AM Ghazanfar6-1-25-5
- Rashid Khan7-0-24-1
Taskin Ahmed b Ghazanfar 0 (1m 1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00
Taskin, as Ghazanfar comes from around
Rishad Hossain lbw b Ghazanfar 1 (3m 2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 50.00
Rishad