Bangladesh defeats Afghanistan in a T20 series for the first time

As Bangladesh thrashed Afghanistan by six wickets in the second T20 international to win the two-match series 2-0 on Sunday, opener Liton Das top-scored with 35 runs.

As Bangladesh sped to 119-4 in 16.1 overs after Afghanistan was held to 116-7 in a team-reduced 17 overs due to rain thanks to Taskin Ahmed’s 3-33, Liton lay the groundwork for the victory with a 67-run opening partnership with Afif Hossain (24).

Bangladesh won the series opener by two wickets on Friday, and the second game on Sunday, which was also won by Bangladesh, gave them their third straight T20 series victory and first over Afghanistan in three tries.

They overcame Scotland 2-1 and the global champs England 3-0 earlier this year.

After Liton and Afif put up a strong partnership, off-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman offered Afghanistan a chance to win the series by dismissing them in a span of three deliveries, followed by Azmatullah Omarzai’s dismissal of Najmul Hossain for four.

But to stop a further collapse, captain Shakib Al Hasan and the youthful Towhid Hridoy put together a 31-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

At the post-game award ceremony, Shakib observed, “We lost a few wickets, but considering the start we had, we were always ahead.

“I knew their spinners would have it tough given the ground conditions.”

Captain Rashid Khan of Afghanistan refused to apologise.

“A team cannot use the weather as an excuse. We weren’t good enough there, particularly in batting, and T20 matches should be determined on talents, he said.

Omarzai defeated Towhid for 19 and finished with 2-17, but Shakib’s undefeated 18 helped Bangladesh win the match.

Shakib also used the ball to his advantage, scoring 2-15, while Mustafizur Rahman added 2-30 as Bangladesh, which chose to bowl first, forced Afghanistan to work hard.

The game was reduced to 17 overs each side when rain forced a one-and-a-half hour break in action after just seven overs.

With 16 runs scored, Afghanistan was already having trouble as Taskin defeated both of their openers, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (eight) and Hazratullah Zazai (four).

After the game began, Mustafizur bowled Mohammad Nabi for 16, then Shakib dismissed Ibrahim Zadran (22) and Najibullah Zadran in the next over, reducing Afghanistan to 67-5.

To resurrect the innings, Omarzai and Karim Janat put together a 42-run partnership for the sixth wicket.

Omarzai’s 21-ball 25-run innings was cut short by Mustafizur, who also forced him to give Shamim Hossain a catch at deep third man.

In the last over, Janat was dismissed by Taskin for 22.

Afghanistan won the three-match one-day international series 2-1, but Bangladesh won the one-off Test match by a record 546 runs.