A history has been created!! Bangladesh won the first ODI match of the series by 4 wickets. Today's victory is one of the most memorable victories of Bangladesh cricket.
In the first match of the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan in Chittagong, the Tigers beat the Afghans in the record match of Afif Hossain - Mahedi Hasan Miraj. In the early morning Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat first at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong. After losing all their all wickets in 49.1 overs, the visiting team collected 215 runs. Despite losing 6 wickets for 45 runs in very early of the game, Bangladesh picked up an incredible victory with the help brilliant batting of Afif Hossain and Mehdi Miraj.
Liton Das returned to the dressing room with the third ball of the third over of the innings while chasing 216 runs. The right-handed batsman caught behind the wicket with the length of Fazal Haque Farooqi. Liton made only 1 run by playing 7 balls. Tamim Iqbal also gets out in the same over after Liton Das. Tamim is given out by LBW. The umpire didn't respond at first. The results are in their favor when Afghanistan is reviewed. He made only 8 runs off 8 balls.
After the departure of Tamim-Liton, Bangladesh was under pressure from the beginning. That pressure was further increased by Mushfiqur Rahim's out. Fazal Haque Farooqi also returned Mushfiqur Rahim to the dressing room. He made 3 runs off 5 balls before being dismissed. The Tigers lost three wickets before the end of five overs. Then the debutant boy Yasir Ali Rabbi was bowled before opening the scoring. Yasir couldn't understand Fazal Haque Farooqi's length ball. Wanted to flick, the ball misses the bat and blows the stamp. Bangladesh lost 4 wickets for only 16 runs. Fazal Haque Farooqi is looking unplayable at that time. In every balls he is looking for wickects & he made the damage very early by picking first four wickets early.Few minutes latter, Shakib Al Hasan was also bowled by Mujib Ur Rahman. He made 10 runs off 15 balls.
Rashid Khan got success when he came to bowl. Mahmudullah Riyadh gets out in Rashid's second ball. The right-handed batsman returned with a catch on the slip after scoring 6 runs. Then Mahedi Hasan Miraj became Afif Hossain's partner in the crease. This was the last reliable pair of Bangladesh. Afif Hossain Dhruv-Mehdi Hasan Miraj formed resistance by standing against the brilliant Afghani bowlers. Afif Hossain Dhruvo and Mehedi Hasan Miraj set the new partnership record for the seventh wicket.
The duo added 174 runs. This is Bangladesh's highest partnership for the seventh wicket in ODI history. Imrul Kayes and Saifuddin had the previous highest run partnership of Bangladesh in the 7th wicket partnership. Miraj-Afif brought a taste of victory to Bangladesh by overcoming their 127-run partnership. After losing 6 wickets in just 45 runs, this young guys brought the Bangladesh team to the brink of victory. Bangladesh has the last laughed. Afif Hossain Dhruv was unbeaten on 93 off 115 balls and Mahedi Hasan Miraj was unbeaten on 81 off 120 balls.
We have seen such an incredible match in 2017 Cricket Champions league, where Shakib & Mahmudullah made an brilliant partnership over 200 runs to win against New-Zealand. But , this time it wasn't Shakib-Mahmudullah, this time it's Afif-Miraz!
Ladies and gentlemen, the future is NOW! 👏
What a win! Congratulations Bangladesh for the Victory :-) 🇧🇩🇧🇩🇧🇩