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