Bangladesh lifts the Ispahani ODI series powered by Walton, returning to ODI cricket after 7 months by winning the series 2-1 in Chattogram. This is their sixth consecutive series victory at home.
Gaining 20 points out of the 30 points in the World Cup Super League available in this 3 match ODI series, the Tigers would not be fully satisfied with their overall performance throughout the series as they failed to obtain the 100 per cent points on offer against Afghanistan, a side ranked 10th in the rankings.
Bangladesh’s win in the 1st ODI can be placed as one of the best fightbacks in their ODI cricket history.
Two young batters Afif Hossain and Mehidy Hasan Miraz defied all odds as they put together a 174 runs 7th wicket partnership (2nd highest 7th wicket partnership in ODIs) chasing a total of 216.
The Tiger top order had no answer to the left-arm seam of Fazalhaq Farooqi who was playing his 2nd ODI match only. He dismissed 4 out of the top 6 Bangladeshi batters as Bangladesh were reduced to 45/6.
Thanks to the 7th wicket heroics of Afif and Miraz, Bangladesh got over the finish line with 7 balls to spare.
The Bangladeshi batters, especially Liton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim, put things into order in the 2nd ODI of the series after they decided to bat first.
Opener Liton Das got his 5th ODI ton, his first against Afghanistan. Mushfiqur Rahim, on the other hand, scored a vital 86 from 93 balls as Bangladesh put on a healthy total of 306/4 at the end of their 50 overs.
Chasing the total, Afghanistan could only manage 218 despite the fifties from Rahmat Shah and Najibullah Zadran, thus handing Bangladesh a comfortable 88 runs victory.
In the final ODI however, a determined Afghanistan side finally turned things around as they avoided the whitewash and grabbed 10 vital points by winning the encounter.
Bangladesh who opted to bat first collapsed from a score of 104/2 to 192 all out. Opener Liton Das was the only positive for Bangladesh in this match who scored 86 from 113 deliveries.
While Bangladeshi batters seemed not very comfortable, Afghanistan batters looked at relative ease as they chased down the total of 193 in 40.1 overs, thanks to a brilliant century (106 from 110 balls) from opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
For the home side, skipper Tamim Iqbal suffered from an old flaw in his batting technique who fell thrice to the bowling of left-arm seamer Farooqi with the ball coming into him.
Failing to make it 3-0 and lack of runs from the No. 5 and 6 also remain a concern for team Bangladesh. Liton Das’s form with the bat can be the biggest positive for Bangladesh to take away from this series, who scored 223 runs in 3 matches and was named the player of the series.
For Afghanistan, a win in the 3rd game will definitely be a massive achievement alongside the bowling of Farooqi who picked up 6 wickets in the series.
They will surely regret the 1st ODI result, as they managed to lose the game even after reducing the opponents to 45/6.
The teams will now move to Dhaka for the 2 matches Ispahani T20I series as both teams look to prepare their sides for the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia, later this year.
