Shakib Al Hasan led from the front with an excellent all-around performance, leading Bangladesh to another win in their two-match T20I series against Afghanistan. The hosts sealed a six-wicket victory in a rain-affected second T20I match in Sylhet. Meanwhile, Hasan took two wickets while conceding just 15 runs. Later, he played a crucial innings, scoring 18 runs off 11 balls. Taskin Ahmed also played his part, claiming 3/33.
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Chasing a modest 119 via DLS method, Bangladesh’s openers Litton Das and Afif Hossain launched an aggressive start, smashing 19 runs in the second over. The duo contributed 50 runs to the scoreboard in just 5 overs.
Afghanistan mounted a comeback in the 10th over when Mujeeb Ur Rahman dismissed Litton Das, who had scored 35 runs off 36 deliveries. In the same over, Rahman also dismissed Afif Hossain, who had made 24 runs off 20 balls. In the 11th over, Azmatullah Omarzai claimed the wicket of Najmul Hossain. However, the experienced batsman Shakib Al Hasan took charge and successfully completed the chase in the 16.1 over. For Afghanistan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Azmatullah Omarzai each took two wickets, conceding 28 and 17 runs respectively.
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Opting to bat first, Afghanistan faced an early setback as Taskin Ahmed dismissed Rahmanullah Gurbaz, earning his 50th T20I scalp. Taskin continued his impressive form, striking again to dismiss Hazratullah Zazai. Afghan batsmen Ibrahim Zadran and Mohammad Nabi attempted to stabilize the innings, but rain interrupted the match for over an hour.
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Upon resumption, Afghanistan encountered difficulty in scoring runs, leading to Mohammad Nabi’s dismissal on Mustafizur Rahman’s delivery after scoring 16 runs off 22 balls. Najibullah Zadran initiated a counter-attack, hitting a boundary and a six in consecutive balls. However, his innings was short-lived as Shakib Al Hasan dismissed him after he had scored 22 runs off 27 balls. Hasan promptly claimed another wicket, removing Najibullah Zadran.
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Azmatullah Omarzai and Karim Janat contributed a few boundaries as Afghanistan reached the 100-run mark in 14 overs. Despite their efforts, Afghanistan failed to recover from their early losses. After losing two more wickets in the final overs, Azmatullah Omarzai and Karim Janat, they set a target of 116/7 in 17 overs.
