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Shakib Al Hasan returns back to form as Bangladesh beat Afghanistan in tri-series

Shakib Al Hasan 70* for Bangladesh today

©Reuters

By Saksham Mishra & Cricket World

After a poor start, senior pros Shakib Al Hasan (70*) and Mushfiqur Rahim (26) took matters in their hands to take Bangladesh to a place of comfort.

Match Summary

Bangladesh 139 – 6 (Shakib Al Hasan 70*; Rashid Khan 2-27)

Afghanistan 138 – 7 (Hazratullah Zazai 47; Afif Hossain 2-9)

Result - Bangladesh won by 4 wickets

Scorecard

Bangladesh win!

Afif Hossain takes 2/9 from 3 overs and captain Shakib smashes 70* to see his side to victory ?? pic.twitter.com/aVIwLkSUoS
— ICC (@ICC) September 21, 2019

The opening pair of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Hazratullah Zazai clicked once again for Afghanistan, putting together an opening partnership of 75 within the first 10 overs. However, after Zazai's dismissal, experienced batsmen Asghar Afghan and Mohammad Nabi were dismissed cheaply.

Despite a 17-ball 23 from Shafiqullah Shafiq, Afghanistan posted a below par target of 138. It was an all-round bowling effort from Bangladesh as Mohammad Saifuddin, Shafiul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman and Shakib Al Hasan picked up one wicket each while Afif Hossain picked two, with all of them being economical.

It was not the greatest start for Bangladesh with both openers getting dismissed cheaply. However, experienced pros Shakib Al Hasan (70*) and Mushfiqur Rahim (26) then took matters in their hands to take them to a place of comfort.

Fifty for Bangladesh's skipper!

It's going to be a close finish in Chattogram, Bangladesh are five wickets down requiring 39 runs from 32 balls.https://t.co/djNuvPhMuz pic.twitter.com/vF9hVukDDc
— ICC (@ICC) September 21, 2019

Mosaddek Hossain closed out the game along with Shakib. This was Bangladesh's first win over Afghanistan after four T20I losses and would give them the much-required coincidence for the final on Tuesday.

Another major happening of this game was that Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan suffered a hamstring injury and is not a certainty for the final.

Bangladesh- Najmul Hossain Shanto, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Afif Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Mosaddek Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin, Shafiul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman

Afghanistan- Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Hazratullah Zazai, Shafiqullah Shafiq, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Asghar Afghan, Karim Janat, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman