Afghanistan pulled off a massive win against Bangladesh in their second and final T20 International match in Dhaka on Saturday to end the tour on a high. After losing the ODIs 1-2, the visitors needed a strong reply in the T20s, but they lost the opener by 61 runs on Thursday. Two days later, Afghanistan played like a different team, a team that can beat any side. Now, at least they will return home with some consolation after a facile -wicket win against Bangladesh. After losing the toss, Afghanistan restricted the hosts to 115/9 with pacers Fazalhaq Farooqi and Azmatullah Omarzai taking three wickets each at Shere Bangla National Stadium. Opener Hazratullah Zazai then hit an unbeaten 59 off 45 with Darwish Rasooli sealing the win with a six. Usman Ghani scored a well-paced 47 off 48. Catch highlights and cricket scores of the 2nd BAN vs AFG T20I match here:
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6:13 PM IST: Player of the match is Azmatullah Omarzai. Another Afghan, Fazalhaq Farooqi takes the MVP honours. A limited but fairly engrossing series despite the lopsided nature of the results - by 61 runs in the first and by 8 wickets today.
5:49 PM IST: Result! Darwish Rasooli hits the winning runs, a six off the 4th ball of the 18th over. Nasum Ahmed watches the ball sail over deep midwicket. Afghanistan win by 8 wickets with 14 balls to spare. And the series is levelled 1-1.
5:40 PM IST: Wicket! Mahmudullah introduces himself and the skipper does the trick. Usman Ghani (47 off 48), caught by Liton Das. Darwish Rasooli is the new man for Afghans. AFG - 103/2 (15.1)
5:37 PM IST: Shakib Al Hasan returns for his third over. Hazratullah Zazai hits the second and fifth balls for sixes - both over deep mid-wicket region. And fifty in 37 balls, with that second six. 14 from the over, and 35 in the last five. Afghanistan need 13 runs in 30 balls. AFG - 103/1 (15)
5:31 PM IST: Three singles from Mustafizur Rahman's third over, but a 78-run second-wicket stand in 69 balls from Hazratullah Zazai (36 off 30) and Usman Ghani (41 off 43) deflates Bangladesh. Afghanistan now need 34 runs in 42 balls. Ghani was dropped on 40 in the previous over. AFG - 82/1 (13)
5:12 PM IST: Shoriful Islam returns for his second over. Usman Ghani hits the fourth ball for a four, straight. And Ghani is having cramps. Drinks taken. Afghanistan need 52 runs in 62 balls. 36 runs in the last 30 balls. It should be easy for the Afghans now. AFG - 64/1 (9.4)
5:02 PM IST: Mustafizur Rahman on with his first over. Five singles and Afghanistan batters. Usman Ghani (20 off 23) and Hazratullah Zazai (17 off 20) decide not to take any risk. In the previous over, Shakib Al Hasan conceded a single in his first. Afghanistan need another 76 runs in 72 balls. AFG - 40/1 (8)
4:48 PM IST: Usman Ghani hits Nasum Ahmed for a six and four off the first two balls in the fifth over. 11 from the over. Bangladesh still operating with two bowlers. Afghanistan need 87 runs in 90 balls. AFG - 29/1 (5)
4:36 PM IST: What a start from Bangladesh. Mahedi Hasan gets the wicket Rahmanullah Gurbaz, off the third ball of the innings. Caught Mahmudullah. Afghan opener goes for 3 off 5. Usman Ghani joins Hazratullah Zazai in the middle. AFG - 4/1 (1.3)
4:22 PM IST: Brilliant show with the ball from Afghanistan in the tour finale. Two 21-year-old pacers, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Azmatullah Omarzai claimed three wickets each while experienced spinners Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan got one apiece. Mushfiqur Rahim top-scored for Bangladesh with 30 off 25.
4:15 PM IST: Karim Janat with the final over of the innings. Just six from it. 23 runs and four wickets in the last five over. Mustafizur Rahman and Nasum Ahmed unbeaten on 6 and 5 respectively. BAN - 115/9 (20)
4:08 PM IST: Fazalhaq Farooqi also gets his third. Shoriful Islam is bowled. A three-ball duck. Mustafizur Rahman is the last man for Bangladesh. BAN - 105/9 (18.1)
4:04 PM IST: Third wicket for young pacer Azmatullah Omarzai. A full toss but Afif Hossain manages to find Hazratullah Zazai at short fine. He goes for 7 off 9. 35 runs and four wickets in the last 30 balls. Shoriful Islam joins Nasum Ahmed. BAN - 104/8 (17.4)
3:58 PM IST: Fazalhaq Farooqi takes two wickets in three balls as Bangladesh slide further. Mushfiqur Rahim finds Mohammad Nabi at cover off the first ball, then new man Mahedi Hasan finds himself trapped in front off the third. Rahim made 30 off 25. Nasum Ahmed is the new man. BAN - 100/7 (16.3)
3:47 PM IST: Rashid Khan traps Mahmudullah in front for his first wicket. Mahmudullah goes for 21 off 15. Afif Hossain joins Mushfiqur Rahim in the middle. BAN - 88/5 (14.4)
3:25 PM IST: Azmatullah Omarzai gets the big wicket of Shakib Al Hasan for 9 off 15. A leading-edge and caught by Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who completes a running catch. Shakib goes for 9 off 15. Mahmudullah is the new man in the middle. BAN - 45/4 (9.3).
In the previous over, Mohammad Naim got run out off the first ball in the midst of a massive LBW shout from Rashid Khan with Karim Janat hitting the target at the bowler's end. He made 13 off 19.
3:05 PM IST: Rashid Khan on with his leg spin. Three singles from it. In the previous over, Mohammad Nabi also leaked only three. 28 runs and one wicket in the last five. BAN - 36/2 (7)
2:56 PM IST: WICKET! Azmatullah Omarzai, right-arm pacer, strikes first ball of his spell. Liton Das looks to take on but instead finds Sharafuddin Ashraf at deep squre leg. Das goes for 13 off 10. Shakib Al Hasan is the new man. BAN - 22/2 (4.1)
2:45 PM IST: WICKET! Mohammad Nabi, right-arm off break, on with the second over. A dot, then Munim Shahriar hits the Afghan skipper for a four. A dot, then Shahriar finds Sharafuddin Ashraf at mid-off. He goes for 4 off 10. Liton Das, right-handed batter, is the new man for Bangladesh. Five runs and a wicket from the over. BAN - 8/1 (2)
2:37 PM IST: Fazalhaq Farooqi, left-arm pacer, with the new ball. Munim Shahriar takes the strike. A couple of wides, then five dots. One leg bye to end the first over. Mohammad Naim is Shahriar's opening partner. BAN - 3/0 (1)
2:14 PM IST: One change for Bangladesh with Mushfiqur Rahim in for Yasir Ali. Two for Bangladesh - Usman Ghani and Sharafuddin Ashraf in for Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Qais Ahmad.
Bangladesh XI: Mohammad Naim, Liton Das (wk), Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah (c), Munim Shahriar, Afif Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Shoriful Islam, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman.
Afghanistan XI: Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Usman Ghani, Darwish Rasooli, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Karim Janat, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Sharafuddin Ashraf.
2:05 PM IST: Bangladesh win the toss and will bat first against Afghanistan in the tour finale.
Thursday's 61-run win was Bangladesh's first T20 victory after suffering five straight losses in the T20 World Cup in UAE last year and then getting hammered by Pakistan 3-0 at home.
Although the margin of victory against Afghanistan looked good, Bangladesh suffered hiccups with four top-order batsmen falling cheaply (80/4) in the 11 overs.
However, Bangladesh were rescued by a fighting 60 off 44 balls by Litton Das as they ended at 155 for eight after opting to bat first. Afghanistan's batting inconsistency returned to haunt them and they were all out for 94. This was the second time Bangladesh had bundled out Afghanistan under 100 runs.
Bangladesh found a bowling hero in slow left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed, whose figures of 4-0-10-4 broke the back of the Afghan batting. Afghanistan crashed to 20 for 4, never to recover at the Shere Bangla National Stadium.
