Young batters Towhid Hridoy and Shamim Hossain came of age as they guided Bangladesh to a tight two-wicket win over Afghanistan in the first T20I of the two-match series at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Friday.
The duo stitched a 73-run stand while chasing 154, with Hridoy remaining unbeaten on 47 off 32 balls to take Bangladesh to victory, while Shamim's 25-ball 33 provided ample support through the latter stage of the successful chase.
Afghan bowler Karim Janat shook the tiger camp by scoring a hat-trick in the last over. However, Tiger bowler Shariful Islam hit Karim for four with the bat and gave the team a great victory. And with the victory, the Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the two-match T20 series.
Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Liton Das, Rony Talukdar, Najmul Hossain, Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam.
Afghanistan: Rashid Khan (capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
