Bangladesh beat Afghanistan by four wickets in the first game of three-match series at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chattogram on Wednesday (February 23).
Chasing 216, Bangladesh were 45/6, but finally managed to pull off a stunning win thanks to Afif and Mehidy’s brilliant half-century.
Afghanistan, thanks to Najibullah Zadran’s 67 runs, managed to score 215 runs losing all wickets in 49.1 overs.
In reply, Bangladesh fell in trouble early after they lost wickets for 45 runs.
Mehidy and Afif’s unbroken 174-run stand for the 7th wicket – the highest for Bangladesh in this format, helped Bangladesh to reach target with remaining seven balls left. Tigers scored 219 runs by losing six wickets.
Batting Allrounder Afif Hossain Dhrubo smashed an innings of 93 runs off 115 balls with 11 boundaries and an over-boundary.
Allrounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz posted 81 runs from 120 balls with nine boundaries.
Earlier, Shakib Al Hasan scored 10 runs off 15 balls. However, no other top order batsmen could reach two digits.
For Afghanistan, Najibullah scored 67 runs from 84 balls with four boundaries and two over-boundaries.
Rahmat Shah bagged 34 runs and skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi got 28 runs.
Fazalhaq Farooqi smashed four wickets for 54 runs while Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan shared a wicket each.
For Bangladesh, Mustafizur Rahman bagged three wickets for 35 runs while Taskin Ahmed, Shakib Al Hasan and Shoriful Islam shared two wickets each.