Afghanistan recorded a twelfth consecutive victory in the T20I, a men’s cricket record when they defeated Bangladesh by 25 runs.
After deciding to strike first, the Afghan innings started as badly as possible when Rahmanullah was blown from the first ball of the match, an absolute pearl maker by Mohammad Saifuddin, before lifting a stump from the ground.
Things got even better for the hosts when Shakib Al Hasan caught Hazratullah Zazai from a high-edged parade. When first Najeeb Tarakai and then Najibullah Zadran was captured in-depth, Afghanistan was about 40/4 in danger of missing a competitive sum.
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However, Stalwarts Mohammad Nabi and Asghar Afghan had other ideas and joined in a 79-year partnership in just over 10 overs to set the stage for Nabi’s fireworks. Saifuddin was the man who broke the partnership, a cutter that got the Afghans to make a catch that lasted a long time, and quickly scored his fourth goal as Gulbadin Naib bowed without scoring.
But when Soumya Sarkar came to bowling on the 18th, Shakib quickly regretted the bowling change as Nabi started two sets of six and two fours from the end, which meant 22 runs. Saifuddin was looking for a 5-for on the 19th but did better as Nabi again took two maximums to mess up his numbers, though he still ended up with a T20I best of 4/33. Nabi finished the innings with 84 * of 54 balls as he led his team to a stunning 164/6 result.
Afghanistan win by 25 runs!
— ICC (@ICC) September 15, 2019
They have now won 12 consecutive T20Is, beating their own record in men's cricket! 👏 👏
Four wickets for Mujeeb and an unbeaten 84 from Mohammad Nabi proved too much for Bangladesh.#BANvAFG pic.twitter.com/9X04fdVWuQ
The innings in Bangladesh had a similarly terrible start when Liton Das offered a tame catch to equalize Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s second ball before Mushfiqur Rahim attempted to score Farid Malik. Shakib and then Soumya was also fired by Mujeeb, who was in the middle and at the end of the fifth round in Bangladesh.
Mahmudullah performed a sort of fight and was skillfully assisted by Sabbir Rahman, who continued beating after receiving a nasty blow to the chin as he tried to scoop Karim Janat. But when Gulbadin had caught the former for 44 in-depth, the fight left the innings.
Mujeeb returned to take on the Sabbir wicket and finished it with 4/15 to improve his previous best T20 numbers by one run. The inning faded to the final when Mustafizur entertained with 40 runs and hit six and two fours before being caught in-depth to leave Bangladesh 139.
