Substitute wicketkeeper Ikram Alikhil dropped Najmul Hossain Shanto on 21, Mohammad Nabi put Mehidy Hasan Miraz down on 1, Gulbadin Naib saw the ball slip through his hands with Mehidy on 4, and Afghanistan had burnt both their reviews.

All this happened from the 12th over to the 25th. At the halfway mark, Bangladesh were another 118 away from their target of 236 and had eight wickets in hand.

But what followed was chaos, as AM Ghazanfar punched one exit ticket after another of the Bangladesh batters. From 120 for 2 four balls into the 26th over, Bangladesh lost 8 for 23 halfway into the 35th to throw it away and lose by 92 runs. Ghazanfar finished with a career-best 6 for 26, while Rashid Khan bagged two, as Afghanistan's spinners ran through Bangladesh.

It was Mohammad Nabi, though, who started the slide. In a field change that turned out to be a moment of brilliance, he kept square leg vacant and added a second slip for Shanto. Bangladesh's captain was tempted immediately, as he went sweeping at a length ball slightly wide outside off. He reached out to paddle sweep, and the top edge popped up for Hashmatullah Shahidi at short fine leg, where the catch was completed on the fourth attempt.

Score: Afghanistan 235 (Nabi 84, Shahidi 52, Taskin 4-53, Mustafizur 4-58) beat Bangladesh 143 (Shanto 47, Sarkar 33, Ghazanfar 6-26) by 92 runs.

Source: ESPN cricinfo

BDST: 2339 HRS, NOV 06, 2024
MSK