With Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s superb century and a great all-round performance by Azmatullah Omarzai, Afghanistan beat Bangladesh by five wickets in the third and final ODI played in Sharjah on Monday. This result means that Afghanistan has won the one-day series with a 2-1 margin.
Afghan opener Gurbaz and Omarzai built a century stand to put their side in a commanding position against Bangladesh’s seam attack spearheaded by Mustafizur Rahman.
Gurbaz was the highest scorer and put an end to Afghanistan’s innings with 101 runs which came off just 120 deliveries that were laced with seven sixes and five fours in the series-deciding match. Omarzai (70 not out) played some aggressive cricket and along with Mohammad Nabi, took the team’s score to victory.
After winning the toss, they began confidently with the openers scoring 53 runs in the first powerplay. Ibrahim however struck four quick blows that left Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s side reeling at 72/4.
Skipper Mehidy and Mahmudullah steadied the Bangladesh innings indicating a promising comeback, putting on a 145 run partnership for the 5th wicket at the expense of 188 balls whilst reaching 244-8.
Mahmudullah had a disappointing inning, but was the top scorer with a strike rate of 98 hitting 98 runs while Mehidy had a good inning despite being slow, making him his hundredth ODI fifty (66).
Afghanistan will be pleased with their performance here as they managed to seal their third consecutive ODI series.
Let’s hear it for Afghanistan’s victory! Gurbaz and Omarzai spearhead the assault as they claim ODI series victory against Bangladesh in Sharjah. For all the latest updates subscribe to Sports Monks!
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