Taskin's double strike starts it, Bangladesh face challenge of holding Afghanistan to 119 in final equation
With a modest total, Bangladesh began their fight with the ball against Afghanistan. In the tough equation to reach the final of the tri-nation series, the Tigers' target is to hold Afghanistan within 119 runs.
Pacer Taskin Ahmed brought success towards that target at the very start. In his second over he sent back Rahmanullah Gurbaz to take Afghanistan's first wicket.
At Sharjah Cricket Stadium, in their second match of the tri-nation series, Afghanistan came out to chase the 161-run target set by Bangladesh. Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam began the attack with the new ball from the two ends.
In his second over Taskin gave Bangladesh their first success by dismissing Gurbaz. The Afghan opener returned to the pavilion scoring 6 runs off 8 balls.
After Gurbaz's departure, Ibrahim Zadran tried to move the innings forward with Sediqullah Atal. But Taskin stood in the way. He made Atal his second victim, bowling him out.
The pacer also sent back Atal. At the end of 7 overs, Afghanistan's total stood at 40 runs for the loss of 2 wickets.
However, the challenge before Bangladesh is not only to win the match, but also to satisfy the equation for reaching the final. Even after setting a target of 161, under the set equation the Tigers must hold Afghanistan within 119 runs.
As a result, even with a modest total, Bangladesh's hope of staying in the match rests on the bowlers. Taskin's opening double strike has given life to that hope.
Earlier, winning the toss and batting first, Bangladesh faced the fire of the Afghan bowlers. Losing wickets one after another at the start, the Tigers came under pressure.
But the team tried to fight back through the responsible batting of Parvez Hossain Emon and Saif Hassan. Emon scored 70 runs and Saif scored 41 runs.
Riding on their batting, Bangladesh collected 160 runs, losing all wickets in 41.2 overs. That is, the target before Afghanistan stood at 161 runs.
For Afghanistan, Rashid Khan alone took 4 wickets. Azmatullah Omarzai and Ahmadzai took two wickets each.
In the rest of the match, the consistency of Bangladesh's bowlers will now decide whether not only victory, but also the final equation, is satisfied.
