Shakib, Taskin lead Bangladesh to 2-0 series sweep

Bangladesh 119 for 4 (Litton 35, Afif 24, Omarzai 2-17) beat Afghanistan 116 for 7 (Omarzai 25, Zadran 22, Taskin 3-33, Shakib 2-15) by six wickets
(DLS method)

Some stylish T20I cricket from Bangladesh helped them to their first bilateral T20I series win against Afghanistan, with a six-wicket win in the rain-hit second game in Sylhet. A combination of fine new-ball bowling from Taskin Ahmed and a quickfire batting powerplay display by Litton Das and Afif Hossain did the trick, Bangladesh eventually knocking off a revised target of 119 from 17 overs with five balls to spare.

Against Afghanistan, Bangladesh had previously lost a T20I series in 2018 in Dehradun and tied a two-match series at home last year. Along with setting this record straight, they have also maintained their perfect 2023 in T20Is: they have won all three bilateral series they‍‍`ve played in the shortest format this year, having beaten England 3-0 and Ireland 2-1 in March.

Today, it was Taskin who got them off to a fiery start.

Taskin‍‍`s red-hot start

In the first over, Rahmanullah Gurbaz top edged a short one from Taskin Ahmed for six, but Taskin hurried him once again with a short ball the very next delivery, and this time took the skier on offer himself. The wicket was Taskin‍‍`s 50th in T20Is, making him the third to reach this mark from Bangladesh after Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman. Gurbaz‍‍`s opening partner Hazratullah Zazai followed him in the third over after Taskin had him caught behind for four, an attempted steer through deep third not coming off.

Afghanistan slip after the rain

Soon after, rain forced a long break of 98 minutes and the game was reduced to 17 overs a side. It gave Afghanistan, who had already batted 7.2 overs, less than ten overs to post a decent total. Mohammad Nabi, who made a fifty in the first T20I, however looked anxious at the crease and couldn‍‍`t get going. He was lucky too, when Shakib at cover and wicketkeeper Litton dropped him off consecutive balls in the ninth over, when he was on 15. Nasum Ahmed was the unlucky bowler.

Mustafizur removed Nabi in the next over for 16, before Shakib had Ibrahim Zadran caught at long-on for 22 and Najibullah Zadran bowled for five in the same over. Allrounders Azmatullah Omarzai and Karim Janat got away three fours and two sixes during their sixth-wicket stand of 42 and looked like their might provide Afghanistan with the surge they very much needed, but the Bangladesh bowlers fought back beautifully. They conceded just one boundary (a six) in the last three overs, while accounting for both the allrounders - Omarzai fell to Mustafizur and Janat to Taskin.