Watch cricket video highlights of Bangladesh and Afghanistan tour of UAE 2024. Third ODI between Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Venue of the match will be Sharjah.
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Rahmanullah Gurbaz averaged 16.73 in 20 innings during run chases in ODIs before to Monday night. He did, however, reach 101, his second century while batting second, against Bangladesh in Sharjah, with 42 of those runs coming from sixes alone. Afghanistan won the series for the third time in a row as a result, winning the chase for 245. After totals of 235 and 252 were successfully defended in the first two games of this series, it was also the first time a score was successfully pursued. However, things did not go as planned for Afghanistan.
Bangladesh smelled a comeback when Gulbadin Naib left in the 41st over and Gurbaz was caught off Mehidy Hasan Miraz, their stand-in skipper, in the 39th over. With five wickets and 58 balls left, Afghanistan was still 57 runs from victory. Mohammad Nabi hit a fast 34*, but Azmatullah Omarzai, who had failed to score in both of these series’ games, methodically led Afghanistan to a five-wicket victory with an undefeated 70 off 77 deliveries. Omarzai hit five sixes, the final one of which sailed over long-on to give his team the victory.
After Afghanistan was 84 for 3 in the 21st over, Gurbaz’s eighth ODI century and his 100-run stand with Omarzai at the fourth wicket helped pave the way for the victory. By then, Gurbaz had already achieved his half-century, demonstrating how dominant he had been. He did have some success, but up to that point, all four of his sixes had been thrown over the leg side. Substitute fielder Rishad Hossain dropped Gurbaz at point on 24. On 48, Gurbaz gave up after a mix-up with Hashmatullah Shahidi, but Towhid Hridoy’s throw from mid-off missed the stumps at the non-striker’s end. Jaker Ali missed stumping Gurbaz off Mehidy when one turned down the leg side, but Jaker may have been dazzled by Gurbaz hopping down the field.
Gurbaz kept himself occupied by locating the boundary and ticking the singles. The ball appeared to fly off Gurbaz’s bat when those strokes of luck were taken into consideration. Mustafizur Rahman’s hard and flat six over deep backward square leg was the most spectacular hit. For a large portion of the innings, Gurbaz and Omarzai made sure Afghanistan maintained control of the chase. Afghanistan needed just 63 more runs from the remaining 72 balls after Gurbaz reached his century in the 38th over.
Omarzai scored his half-century shortly after Afghanistan’s consecutive defeats over Gurbaz and Naib, which came after he had taken 4 for 37 with the ball to win Player-of-the-Match. Afghanistan had gotten off to a shaky start, losing Tanzid Hasan twice and allowing extras to be scored with the ball. Omarzai, however, broke a 53-run opening partnership by delivering his second over, the ninth of the innings, which saw Soumya Sarkar chopping on for 24 at little over a run per ball. It was as if a switch was flipped.
In the eleventh over, Mehidy sent Zakir Hasan back after calling for a run, only to have Zakir dismissed on four; in the fifteenth over, Rashid Khan had Hridoy caught at slip for seven; and in the tenth over, Nabi had Tanzid slicing to cover point for 19 off a slow and dipping ball. Mehidy, who struck a patient 66, and Mahmudullah, who smashed a run-a-ball 98, combined to contribute 145 runs for the fifth wicket, causing Bangladesh to lose 4 for 19 in six overs. They only added 49 runs off the first 74 balls of their partnership, though, as they took their time settling in.
During that time, Mehidy hit three boundaries, two of which came off the outer edge of his bat. Mahmudullah appeared much more stable than Mehidy, who had trouble finding the gap or getting even the singles. Mahmudullah smashed the first six of the innings when he deposited Nabi over midwicket to conclude the 35th over, with Afghanistan holding Bangladesh in check. Nabi even delivered his first over in the 39th, but such hits continued to be infrequent. However, Bangladesh scored 78 runs in the final 10 overs.
It all began when Mahmudullah struck another six to break Nabi’s streak. Mahmudullah hit AM Ghazanfar for four runs through extra cover in the 42nd over. Before executing a sweep off Rashid to advance Bangladesh, he opened the 44th with another boundary, this time over Ghazanfar’s head. When Mehidy saw it, he also changed his mind. He lapped and reverse scooped Omarzai for successive boundaries with five overs remaining, but he was dismissed when he skied one to extra cover in the same over. Mahmudullah had to provide the final touches with Bangladesh at 217 and with 24 balls remaining.
His twin dose of luck in the 47th over was just what Bangladesh needed to reach a competitive score. Rashid had Mahmudullah out lbw to begin the over, but he was able to reverse the ruling using DRS. He drove back hard at Rashid after two legal balls, and the blow blistered his palms as he dropped a challenging catch. Mahmudullah finished by hitting Farooqi for another six over midwicket. With one ball left, he was on 97. When Mahmudullah attempted a second, Omarzai swung one into off, which he could only clip behind square to be run-out.
