AFG vs BAN: Gurbaz, Omarzai power Afghanistan to ODI series win vs Bangladesh

Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Azmatullah Omarzai were the stars of the show as Afghanistan beat Bangladesh by five wickets on Monday to claim the three-match ODI series 2-1. Gurbaz became the second youngest after Quinton de Kock with eight ODI hundreds in Men’s T20Is as the Afghans won the deciding game by five wickets at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Gurbaz couldn’t score big in the first two games, but made amends in the decider.

After being asked to bat first, Bangladesh racked up a decent score of 244 for eight. But it would not have been possible had Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who made his ODI captaincy debut in the absence of Najmul Hossain Shanto, and Mahmudullah not



stepped up. Miraz and Riyad put on 145 runs for the fifth wicket after the Tigers were reduced to 72 for four in 14.4 overs.

Miraz scored 66 runs off 119 balls with four fours. Mahmdullah, who failed in the first two games, notched 98 runs at a run-a-ball with the help of seven fours and three sixes. He was run out in the final ball of the innings while trying to complete the second run.

Zakir Hasan, who replaced Shanto in the playing XI, could only manage four runs before getting run out. Tanzid Hasan Tamim (19) and Soumya Sarkar (24) got starts before getting out. Azmatullah Omarzai was the pick of the Afghan bowlers with figures of 7-0-37-4.