Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman took four wickets each and helped Bangladesh restrict Afghanistan to 235 all-out runs in the three-match ODI series opening game on Wednesday in the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Afghanistan won the toss and opted to bat first on the tricky Sharjah surface. It’s Bangladesh’s first ODI in Sharjah after 29 years.

Mohammad Nabi, the Afghan veteran, posted 84, while captain Hashmatullah Shahidi also scored a fifty.

Taskin Ahmed drew the first blood, removing dangerous Afghanistan opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz for just five. The delivery was moving away, and Gurbaz tried to drive but only managed to reach the wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim with a thick edge.

Mustafizur Rahman took the second wicket for Bangladesh in his first over, to be specific, in his second ball, as Rahman Shah prodded it to the keeper.

Mustafizur continued to trouble Afghanistan's batting line. In his fifth over, Mustafizur struck twice to remove debutant Sediqullah Atal and Azmatullah Omarzai consecutively for 21 and a duck.

Atal missed the line while playing a delivery toward the middle and leg stumps and was trapped lbw. Azmatullah fell to a typical Mustafizur delivery that went away from the body of the batter, who tried to defend but only managed an outside edge to the wicketkeeper.

When Gulbadin Naib and captain Shahidi were trying to build a partnership to recover from early wickets, Taskin struck again, scalping Naib for 14.

In the next partnership, Mohamamd Nabi and Shahidi added 104 runs in a bid to guide Afghanistan to a competitive total.

Mustafizur broke the stand to earn a breakthrough for the Tigers. He bowled Shahidi for 52 to reduce Afghanistan to 175 for six in 40.2 overs.

Nabi kept the scoreboard afloat until the 48th, when Taskin trapped him. It was a sharp delivery outside off, and Nabi pulled it to the square leg, where Tanzid Hasan Tamim took the catch. Off the next delivery, Taskin bowled Am Ghazanfar for a duck.

Taskin finished taking four for 53 in his 10 overs. And Mustafizur ended up taking four for 58.

And it was the first time in ODIs that two Bangladeshi pacers took four wickets apiece.

MSH

Bangladeshi wicketkeeper-batter Mushfiqur Rahim is set to feature for Fortune Barishal in the forthcoming Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

Mushfiqur had played for Sylhet Strikers in the last edition. His price was fixed at 80 lakhs in the players' draft according to the category. Which means he was in 'A' category.

The top category player will play along with other star players like Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, and Khaled Ahmed in Fortune Barishal.

Neymar said he was relishing “new challenges and opportunities in new places” after he joined Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal from Paris Saint-Germain on a two-year deal Tuesday, becoming the latest big name lured to the oil-rich Gulf state.

The Brazil forward, 31, ends a six-year stay in the French capital and follows in the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Sadio Mane in swapping Europe for the Middle East.

“I have achieved a lot in Europe and enjoyed special times, but I have always wanted to be a global player and test myself with new challenges and opportunities in new places,” Neymar said in a statement from the Saudi Pro League.

“I want to write new sporting history, and the Saudi Pro League has tremendous energy and quality players at the moment,” he added.

Neymar was “in negotiations” on Sunday to become the latest football superstar to decamp for Saudi Arabia, leaving Paris Saint-Germain just as Kylian Mbappe was brought back in from the cold by the French champions.

A source close to PSG told AFP that 31-year-old Neymar “no longer figures in the club or manager’s plans” with the Brazilian immediately linked to Al-Hilal in the Gulf kingdom.

Another source in Saudi Arabia said that “direct negotiations” between Neymar’s agents and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) were ongoing.