AFG vs BAN 2024/25, AFG vs BAN 1st ODI match report, November 6, 2024

Afghanistan 235 (Nabi 84, Shahidi 52, Taskin 4-53, Mustafizur 4-58) defeated Bangladesh 143 (Shanto 47, Sarkar 33, Ghazanfar 6-26) for 92 runs

Substitute wicketkeeper Ikram Alikhil had Najmul Hossain Shanto dropped on 21, Mohammad Nabi had Mehidy Hasan Miraz dropped on 1, Gulbadin Naib had seen the ball slip through his hands with Mehidy on 4 and Afghanistan had burned both reviews. At the halfway point of their chase, Bangladesh were 118 away from their target of 236 and had eight wickets in hand.

This broke a 55-run stand between Shanto, who made 47, and Mehidy. The wicket slowed Bangladesh down and five overs later, in the 31st, Mehidy fell victim to a great catch from Azmatullah Omarzai, again at short good leg, and ran to his left before diving to complete the take. That was Ghazanfar's second wicket – he had earlier bowled Tanzid Hasan in the fourth over – and it almost flipped a switch for him.

By the time he got past 33, he had overwhelmed Mushfiqur Rahim, bowled Rishad Hossain lbw and Taskin Ahmed – all with carrom balls. In the previous over, Rashid's Googly had cleaned up Mahmudullah. At that point, the only question of interest was whether Ghazanfar would complete his hat-trick after fending off consecutive deliveries from Rishad and Tasking to end the over. Bangladesh had two wickets left and Rashid dismissed Towhid Hridoy with another googly.

Ghazanfar failed to complete his hat-trick at the start of the 35th over, but two balls later Shoriful Islam scored a dramatic winner.

Afghanistan's victory was set up by two contrasting blows after they were 71 for 5 in 20 overs. While Shahidi played second fiddle in an innings of 52 off 92 balls, Nabi cracked 84 off 79 balls. Their 104-man partnership gave Afghanistan a platform to build on after Mustafizur Rahman struck three times and Taskin twice.

While Shahidi liked to be patient and collect singles, Nabi started with much more determination. He sent his sixth ball off Rishad for a massive six-over deep midwicket – a strike he repeated with the same bowler in the 27th over, with the same result. At one point Bangladesh fell behind when Rishad and Mushfiqur thought Shahidi had fallen behind, but replays showed a big gap between bat and ball.

The 50th stand between Shahidi and Nabi came about in the 30th round. Then Nabi had a lucky streak. Firstly, when he made a sweep against Rishad for 37 in the 34th over, but was hit on his front pad and neither the umpire returned the ball nor did Bangladesh opt for a review, even though DRS would have sent Nabi back. In the 37th minute, just after reaching his fifty, Nabi hit Rishad but mistimed it and the ball landed just in front of the long-range man who was running forward. In the next over, Nabi came across a ball from Mahmudullah and got an outside edge that flew away through the open slip area.

Shahidi, meanwhile, needed 87 deliveries to reach 50 and continued to content himself with pushing for singles and twos. He survived a narrow run-out chance at the start of the 40th over when he pushed the ball to point and the two batters went for a run. But Shahidi, who was on halfway, was sent back by Nabi and barely made it as Mushfiqur hit the balls.

However, he chopped down Mustafizur in the 41st over and Rashid soon after hit a shot to Shoriful's midwicket. But Nabi remained unmoved. He took Afghanistan to 200 with four overs remaining and bowled Mustafizur at mid-wicket for six overs in the 47th over. Nangeyalia Kharote, who came in after Rashid's dismissal, contributed an unbeaten 27, with two fours and a six in the death overs, even as Taskin fended off two balls in a row in the 48th minute.

Taskin and Mustafizur finished the game with four wickets each as Bangladesh restricted Afghanistan to 235.