Zadran, Omarzai and Rashid give Afghanistan series win
Rashid picked up his sixth five-for in ODIs after Zadran's 95 helped Afghanistan to 190
Rashid picked up his sixth five-for in ODIs after Zadran's 95 helped Afghanistan to 190
Scorer: Thilak Ram | Commentator: Hemant Brar & Rvel Zahid
Ibrahim Zadran, Player of the Match: I was just trying to stay positive. Yes, we didn't build enough partnerships and were giving away wickets but I was focusing on rotating the strike. I knew that the longer I stayed, the better total we could post. I wanted to add 30-40 quick runs in the death overs. I'd say I'm happy with the intent we showed. I passed the message to the boys that the wicket wasn't easy, and if we bowled and fielded with discipline, we could win it. We wanted to give 100 percent and we got the result.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Bangladesh Captain: I think we bowled really well and we could have chased that total easily but we batted very poorly today. I told the boys that we needed partnerships at the top but we couldn't do that. We start partnerships but we have to take responsibility and that's where the problem is. Our batters are not taking enough responsibility. We're very disappointed at the moment but we still have one more match left. After that, we have another series, and we have to think about how to come back stronger. We need to improve our batting; if we don't score in ODIs, we can't survive
Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afghanistan Captain: Very happy with the series win. First of all, Ibrahim played really well; the wicket was not easy. I was thinking that 220 would have been a defendable total, but even when we scored 191, I told the boys that the wicket wasn't easy and we wouldn't let them reach the target. Credit to the bowlers, they bowled really well. Omarzai gave us a very good start and that momentum early on. I asked him in the sixth over if he wanted to continue and he was confident. (Omarzai) bowled really well on this spinning track, and Rashid too -- he's a world-class bowler who always contributes to the team. I congratulate him on taking a five-wicket haul.
Waheed: "Rashid has been absolutely phenomenal in this series, bowled 19+ overs, claiming eight wickets, and astonishingly not conceding a single boundary. His performance is nothing short of extraordinary, truly showcasing him as a world-class player."
Dominant day for Afghanistan! They are back to winning ways and once again showcased their bowling prowess, with Rashid Khan spearheading the attack and taking a splendid fifer; almost unplayable on a seething track. The usual suspect, Ibrahim Zadran, played a spellbinding knock, anchoring the innings with a magnificent 95, while Mohammad Nabi's cameo ensured they had enough on the board. Bangladesh did well to keep a lid on the scoring with Tanzim and Mehidy sharing five wickets and Rishad picking up two -- all very economical. However, Afghanistan simply ripped through the batting lineup, with some of the Bangladesh batters' shots rather unimaginative and irresponsible. As pressure kept piling up, Bangladesh crumbled. Azmatullah started the rot and then Rashid weaved his magic with spin wizardry, finishing with sensational figures of 5 for 17 in 8.3 overs
Thank you for your company. Hemant and I will sign off now
Rishad Hossain st †Rahmanullah Gurbaz b Rashid Khan 5 (22m 15b 0x4 0x6) SR: 33.33
"I think the ground reality is we have to sort out our batting," Mushtaq Ahmed says after Bangladesh fold for 109 in the second ODI to concede the series against Afghanistan
Rashid picked up his sixth five-for in ODIs after Zadran's 95 helped Afghanistan to 190
Rahmat Shah picked up the injury in the 15th over, retired hurt, came out to bat again at the fall of the ninth wicket, but couldn't carry on
They were victors in 2023 and 2024 and things are looking good this year as well