MATCH REPORT
Follow UsHazratullah Zazai clobbered five sixes and three boundaries in his 45-ball 59 while Fazalhaq Farooqi and Azmatullah Omarzai claimed three wickets apiece as Afghanistan thrashed Bangladesh by eight wickets on Saturday at the Shere Bangla Stadium in Dhaka. The win helped the visitors level the series 1-1.
After the 61-run win in the first game, Bangladesh were made to pay for their sloppy fielding by Zazai and Usman Ghani who scored a brisk 47 off 48 balls. Nasum Ahmed dropped Zazai when he had no runs on board before Afif Hossain and Mohammad Naim put down Ghani.
Defending a paltry total of 116, Mahedi Hasan struck early to remove Rahmanullah Gurbaz, but Ghani and Zazai added 99 runs to take the game away from Bangladesh. Mahmudullah dismissed Ghani to break the stand, but it was too late as Afghanistan needed 13 runs from 29 balls.
Darwish Rasooli added the finishing touch with a towering six off Nasum. Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi hailed the team for their bowling efforts.
"The boys played really well, especially in the first innings. Hazratullah and Ghani batted well for us," he said.
The hosts earlier never managed to get going after electing to bat first, losing wickets at regular intervals.
"It was a good wicket to bat on. We didn't put together enough partnerships. (I am) very disappointed the way this game turned up," said Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah.
"We need to improve our fielding. That's something we need to work on," he added.
Veteran batter Mushfiqur Rahim was the top scorer for his side 30 off 25 balls while captain Mahmudullah added 21 off 13 balls. Farooqi finished with 3-19 while Omarzai claimed 3-22.
(With inputs from AFP)
