Allah Ghazanfar picks six as Bangladesh implode in chase

Bangladesh’s preparation for next year’s Champions Trophy in Pakistan got off to a rocky start as they suffered a batting implosion. Afghanistan’s 18-year-old offspinner Allah Ghazanfar picked six wickets, with Bangladesh going from 120 for 2 to 143 all-out in the space of 8.4 frenetic overs.

Though Ghazanfar made an early incision with the wicket of opener Tanzid Hasan in the fourth over, Soumya Sarkar and captain Najmul Hossain Shanto quickly pushed ahead and put Bangladesh ahead of the asking rate. Medium-pacer Azmatullah Omarzai broke that 53-run partnership with the wicket of Sarkar, but Bangladesh responded with another innings-progressing stand, between Najmul and No.4 batter Mehidy Hasan Miraz.

The duo carried the chase past the half-way mark and even reduced the asking rate along the way, until the tide-turning 26th over from Mohammad Nabi. The veteran made a smart field change by putting his deep square leg fielder to second slip, and luring Najmul to sweep against the turn. The left-hander fell for it and top-edged his attempt, with Shahidi catching it at short fine leg, not before juggling it a few times. Afghanistan used this small opening to carve open Bangladesh’s line-up. Ghazanfar returned to the attack in the 31st over to wreak havoc, starting off with Mehidy’s wicket.

Bangladesh began to sink in his next, a triple-wicket over where he had Mushfiqur Rahim stumped off a carrom ball, trapped Rishad Hossain leg before and cleaned up Taskin with another carrom ball to complete his five-fer, and leave Bangladesh eight down for 138. In between these two overs, Rashid Khan added to Bangladesh’s misery with a well-disguised googly that cleaned up Mahmudullah. Towhid Hridoy got a Rashid googly too, which he missed while attempting an expansive slog sweep. In the very next over – the 35th – Ghazanfar picked his sixth wicket – with yet another carrom ball that befuddled Shoriful Islam to give Afghanistan an incredible 92-run victory.

Long before the batters fluffed their lines, Bangladesh found themselves in a better position at the halfway stage thanks to their bowlers. Taskin Ahmed (4 for 53) and Mustafizur Rahman (4 for 58) ran through the top-order and had Afghanistan struggling at 71 for 5 in 20 overs. Captain Shahidi and Nabi spent the next 20 overs in repair work, as they put on 104 for the sixth wicket before Mustafizur cleaned up the former. Shahidi walked off for 52 (92), but Nabi tried to push on in the company of the lower-order.

It wasn’t much, but he did enough to drag the team past the 200-run mark before becoming Taskin’s third scalp, for an excellent 84 off 79 balls, that included four fours and three sixes. Nangeyalia Kharote’s unbeaten 27 added valuable runs towards the end that allowed Afghanistan to push till 235, which proved to be more than sufficient to take a comfortable 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Brief Scores: Afghanistan 234 in 50 overs (Mohammad Nabi 84, Hashmatullah Shahidi 52; Taskin Ahmed 4-53, Mustafizur Rahman 4-58) beatBangladesh 143 in 34.3 overs (Najmul Hossain Shanto 47; Allah Ghazanfar 6-26) by 92 runs