Innings Report: Afghanistan restrict Bangladesh at 208 in 2nd ODI

Afghanistan's Rashid Khan bowled extremely well, picking up 3 for 35 against Bangladesh in 2nd ODI.

Bangladesh could not pull off a similar performance with the bat like they did in 1st ODI © AFP

As Afghanistan play Bangladesh in the second One-day International (ODI), the visitors’ bowlers help their side to restrict the hosts at 208. Earlier, in the first ODI, the team gave away too many runs which resulted in a defeat. They came in with a better performance with the ball in the second match showing prominent signs of improvement and have successfully restricted Bangladesh within an achievable total. In the morning, skipper Asghar Stanikzai won the toss and elected to bowl first saying the wicket looked good to bowl on early and the bowlers supported the decision by the captain well, not letting the hosts with big partnerships.

The usual pair of Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar started things off for Bangladesh with the bat. Mohammad Nabi opened bowling for Afghanistan who went straight in with attacking strategy, bowling fuller deliveries to lure the two batsmen and get them. The two managed to hold their ground. Dawlat Zadran came in with a maiden over following Nabi’s opener. Stanikzai kept on switching between Nabi, Dawlat and Mirwais Ashraf for the powerplay and introduced Rashid Khan afterwards along with Naveen ul Haq. One unique move was to let Rahmat Shah bowl a few overs, who remained successful with the ball. Sarkar, who has not had a very good form lately, struggled in this match. The cricketer did not look very comfortable. While a few shots looked good, he was saved a couple of times as he edged the ball but it did not carry to the slip.

Ashraf provided Afghanistan with their first breakthrough as he removed a dangerous Tamim Iqbal for a mere 2 and Bangladesh were 45 for 1. Tamim was the innings builder for his side in the last match and the team never seemed to get over the early loss of wicket. Sarkar, after living dangerously for a while, followed Tamim for 20 and Bangladesh had lost 2 wickets within 50 runs. The next two batsmen, Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim looked to settle things down a bit. The batsmen built up a partnership of 61 runs before Mahmudullah departed for 25. Mushfiqur stayed there for a longer time, scoring 38 runs.

Shakib Al Hasan, who remained the all-round performer in the previous match, lacked his touch in the second match. The batsman did not look to be as confident as the previous match and after being dropped by Hashmatullah Shahidi a ball before, Shakib departed for 17. Sabbir Rahman, who had a very good time in Asia Cup 2016, could also not do much justice departing for 4. However, both Shakib and Sabbir fell for poor decision by the umpire as they both seemed to have had some inside edge but were given lbw.

Skipper Mashrafe Mortaza got into the field amidst loud cheer, but could not play the captain’s knock that was being expected of him. He went for a big shot, was caught in the deep and departed for only 2 runs. Mosaddek Hossain, the highest scorer for Bangladesh in the warm-up match, was sent down the order and looked to take his time to settle and play with a calm approach, trying to protect his wicket. He played a crucial innings to push the score beyond 200. He hit the first six of the match and hammered inexperienced Naveen all around the park in his over. The last few overs remained run fetching and Bangladesh’s innings came to an end with 208 runs on the board.

Rashid Khan bowled extremely well in the death overs. There was one certain over which fetched two wickets and went maiden. Afghanistan looked to be a totally different side from what they were in the first match. Nabi was the best among the bowlers, picking up two wickets with an economy of 1.60. Mirwais Ashraf was the other bowler to pick up two wickets, while it was Rashid who was the highest wicket-taker with his 3 for 35. Rahmat and Naveen both got a wicket each. While Dawlat went wicketless, his performance looked better than the previous match as he remained economical.

Stanikzai’s captaincy, Afghanistan’s strategy looked to be clearer in second match unlike that in the first. The other department the team worked on is fielding. Extremely sloppy in the first ODI, though Afghanistan missed a chance or two, they looked better than their previous performance.

Brief score: