Dubai: Afghanistan teenager Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar is a special talent and the mystery spinner lived up to the expectations by spinning a web around Bangladesh who were dealt a stunning loss in the first of the three One-Day International at the Sharjah Stadium on Wednesday.
With Sharjah Cricket Stadium reaching the landmark 300th International contest, the occasion brought the best out of Ghazanfar, who finished with a six-wicket haul to wreck Bangladesh batting and guide Afghanistan to a 92-run win.
Good score
“Quite happy about the performance. It was good and looking forward to the next two games. Nabi was really positive. Our discussion was that if we scored 220, it would be a good score and the bowlers did their job,” skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi told the broadcasters after the end of the match.
“Ghazanfar is a special talent, good future for Afghanistan. We have a lot of youngsters. We have other options available as back-ups.”
Rearguard action
Afghanistan had to thank former skipper Mohammad Nabi and Shahidi’s half-century for achieving a defendable total. With half the batting back in the pavilion for paltry 71, Shahidi and Nabi added 104 runs for the sixth wicket to bring some respectability to the score and Nabi continued to keep the scoreboard ticking to reach 235 in 49.4 overs.
Skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto and the young all-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz stitched together a 55-run partnership for the third wicket and were in a position of strength at 120 for two. Soumya Sarkar, who returned to the Bangladesh squad after nine months, gave a good start.
Strong comeback in the next game
There was no pressure on the Bangladesh batters as the run-rate was under six and well within the reach, but the mystery spinner broke the partnership to give the opening for Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan to get into the act and claimed the remaining eight wickets for the addition of just 23 runs, triggering a collapse.
“The wicket had low bounce. My wicket made the difference in today’s game. I was the set batter and in these conditions, you have to bat longer. Afghanistan always have mystery spinners, everyone bowled really well. Hopefully, we can come back strongly in the next game,” Shanto said.
