A sparkling century from Rahmanullah Gurbaz and a composed knock under pressure from Azmatullah Omarzai took Afghanistan to a five-wicket victory in the third and final ODI against Bangladesh in Sharjah on Monday (November 11). With that, the Afghans clinched the ODI series 2-1. (Highlights | More Cricket News)
The Bangla Tigers posted 244 runs on the board in the first innings, with Mahmudullah (98 runs off 98 balls) narrowly missing out on a hundred and stand-in captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz playing a handy 66-run knock. Their 145-run partnership rescued the hosts from a tricky position and took them to a total that could challenge Afghanistan.
And it did, to some degree. But Gurbaz (101 off 120) was virtually unstoppable at the top of the order and smashed his eighth ODI ton to keep the visitors ahead of the eight ball at most times. Once Gurbaz was dismissed, Omarzai (70 not out off 77) took charge and stayed there till the very end alongside veteran all-rounder Mohammad Nabi.
Omarzai had earlier snared four wickets in the Bangladesh innings, and was deservedly named the Player of The Match. "It was tough for me after two bad games. I was positive and was trying to hit the ball where I wanted to hit. Gurbaz was there, so I was confident. Even if I miss a few balls, I did not care because he could cover (for me) anytime. Whenever I got loose balls, I tried to (score boundaries)," he said at the post-match presentation.
On his bowling, he added, "The wicket was slow, the ball was sticking. So, I tried to use my variations. I was speaking to Rashid (Khan) and he told me to bowl a mix of deliveries. Bowling at the death was tough for me, because I have never bowled in the last few overs.
"It means a lot to win this award. It is my first POTM award in ODIs and I am really happy."
Nabi, who scored 135 runs and picked up two wickets in the three games, was adjudged the Player of the Series. "In my mind, from last World Cup, I was retired but then we qualified for the Champions Trophy and I felt if I can play that, it will be great," he said.
On his role in the team, he said: "Small contributions from my side for the youngsters will be great insight. Most of the time, I will speak with Ghazanfar, Kharote on what speeds to bowl and that helps a lot. In the last season, I did not do well with the bat. But I worked harder before the series and it was my target to perform in this series with the bat."
