There was pressure early on in both departments—failure to take wickets at the start of the bowling innings, and the loss of three quick wickets in the batting powerplay. But it all ended well for Bangladesh. Proving the old saying, “All’s well that ends well,” the Tigers smiled last with a hard-fought win.
In the second match of the three-match T20I series, Bangladesh defeated Afghanistan by 2 wickets. With this victory, the Tigers sealed the series with one game remaining. In a nail-biting finish, Nurul Hasan Sohan and Shoriful Islam emerged as Bangladesh’s heroes.
With 6 runs needed off the last over, Shoriful Islam smashed the first ball from Azmatullah over long-on for a boundary. Bangladesh reached the target with 5 balls to spare.
Chasing Afghanistan’s 147, Bangladesh crossed the line with 8 wickets down. The 2-wicket victory also confirmed the series for Bangladesh, giving them an unassailable 2–0 lead in the three-match series.
Shoriful was the hero in the series-clinching match. Coming in at number ten, he scored 11 runs off just 6 balls. Earlier, he had also played a key role with the ball. Although he didn’t take a wicket in his first spell, he conceded only 9 runs in his first 3 overs, effectively restricting Afghanistan’s batters. Later, returning in the death overs, he dismissed Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who scored 30 runs and was Afghanistan’s second-highest scorer.
