DHAKA —
Hazratullah Zazai struck an unbeaten half-century to help Afghanistan thrash
Bangladesh by eight wickets in the second Twenty20 international with the
two-match series ending all square at 1–1 in Dhaka on Saturday.
اضافة اعلان
Zazai hit 59 off 45 balls and Usman Ghani scored 47,
guiding Afghanistan to 121–2 in 17.4 overs after
Fazalhaq Farooqi and
Azmatullah Omarzai claimed three wickets each to restrict Bangladesh to 115–9.
A minute’s silence was observed in memory of late
Australian greats Shane Warne and Rodney Marsh before the start of the match.
Both Zazai and Ghani benefited from
Bangladesh’s
sloppy fielding as the hosts failed to back up Thursday’s convincing 61 run
victory.
Nasum Ahmed dropped Zazai on nought off the third
ball of the innings before Afif Hossain and Mohammad Naim reprieved Ghani at 39
and 41 off the bowling of Mahedi Hasan.
Mahedi struck early to remove
Rahmanullah Gurbaz for
three but Zazai and Ghani took full advantage of Bangladesh’s weak fielding to
add 99 runs for the second wicket.
Mahmudullah Riyad dismissed Ghani to break the
stand, with Afghanistan only 13 runs away from victory.
It was left to Darwish Rasooli to end the game with
a towering six off left-arm spinner 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.
Mushfiqur Rahim top-scored with 30 off 25 balls, in
his 100th Twenty20 international, while Mahmudullah chipped in with 21 off 13
balls.
On 19,
Mahmudullah became the first Bangladeshi to
score 2000 runs in Twenty20 internationals before he was trapped plumb in front
by leg-spinner Rashid Khan.
Farooqi finished with 3–19 while Omarzai claimed 3–22.
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