Photo : Collected
Bangladesh stand-in captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz believes the dew made batting easier later on, giving Afghanistan an edge while chasing the target at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the series deciding third ODI.
Afghanistan chased down Bangladesh's 244-8 with 10 balls to spare to win the game by five wickets and eventually took the three-match series 2-1.This was their second straight bilateral ODI series victory against Bangladesh, having previously won a series in Chattogram last year.
Miraz who led the side in absence of injured Najmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and opted to bat first, knowing that the batting first team has always the edge at this very ground. When he won the toss, Miraz looked hyper-excited and declared it to the match referee that he wanted to bat first even before the presenter Pakistan's Ramiz Raza could ask him the question.
But on an ill-fated night, the destiny thought otherwise. "We saw in the last two matches that the wicket was spinning and that is why we wanted to bat (first)," Miraz said after the match."(But) some dew came in (tonight), so ball was coming on too easy (to the bat), which is why it was easier to bat on later."
Afghanistan won the first match by 92 runs after Bangladesh lost last eight wickets for only 23 runs. However, the Tigers leveled the series with 68-run win over Afghanistan in the second match in which their spinners played a vital role.
The Bangladesh spinners were largely ineffective in the most crucial game as the dew made it tougher for them to grip the ball properly. Bangladesh though reduced Afghanistan to 84-3, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Azmatullah Omarzai put on a 100-run for the fourth wickets to edge the side closer to the victory.
While Gurbaz was dismissed after scoring 101 runs, Omarzai drove the side to the victory with an unbeaten 70. Omarzai also took 4-37 with the bowling to earn the man of the match award.
"Credit goes to them, they played really well, especially Gurbaz and Omarzai," said Miraz, adding that failing to get wicket in the middle overs
also cost the game.
"It could have been different but the problem was we did not get wickets in the middle overs (when Gurbaz and Omarzai were batting)." Mahmudullah Riyad had the opportunity to be hero of the match with a run-a- ball 98, missing out a ton by whisker. He and Miraz shared a 145-run but that came in slow pace, leaving Bangladesh short of at least 20 runs.
Specially Miraz was extremely slow in his approach, scoring the 66 runs, playing 119 balls.
But Miraz believes he and Mahmudullah did a good job after a mini collapse that saw Bangladesh losing some wicket in quick succession. It was a tough job, the boys played really well, specially Mahmudullah Riyad bhai and me," he remarked.
The Afghan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi heaped praises on his match-winning players.
"When we lost the toss, it was a little disappointing," said the Afghan skipper. "If you see the behaviour of the pitch in the second innings, batting is difficult. But the way our boys took responsibility, and the way Gurbaz, Omarzai and [Mohammad] Nabi did it, I am really proud of them," he added.
Messenger/JRTarek
