Bangladesh vs Afghanistan: Towhid Hridoy stars as Tigers overcome Karim Janat hat-trick to clinch first T20I

Sylhet: Towhid Hridoy hit an unbeaten 47 as Bangladesh overcame a dramatic last-over hat trick by Karim Janat to beat Afghanistan by two wickets in their Twenty20 on Friday. Bangladesh needed just six runs in the last over with five wickets in hand. Janat conceded a boundary to the first ball but used his short balls to good effect to hit back with three wickets in the next three balls to raise the prospect of a thrilling victory. But another short Janat delivery was cut by Shoriful Islam past point for a boundary to seal victory with one ball left. Bangladesh sneaked home reaching 157-8 after Afghanistan put up 154-7. “I wasn’t nervous despite Janat’s hat trick,” Hridoy said. “It was just a matter of one hit and I was confident that the tailenders would do the job. I told Shoriful, ‘You will just run no matter if you hit it or not.’” Hridoy kept alive Bangladesh’s chances after it was reduced to 64-4. He and Shamim Hossain combined for 73 off 43 balls for the fifth wicket. Shamim was dropped on 24 in his crucial 33. “We tried to rotate the strike and wanted to take the game deep,” Hridoy said. “We knew if we can take it deep, we can win it.” Pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi gave Afghanistan a wicket in the first over, dismissing Rony Talukdar for 4. Mujeeb Ur Rahman got rid of Najmul Hossain for 14. When Azmatullah Omarzai got the better of Liton Das on 18, Bangladesh was at a troubling 39-3 in the seventh over. Shakib Al Hasan made 19 when pacer Fareed Ahmad had him caught by Janat, but he gave the chase a needed lift. At 64-4, Hridoy and Shamim played masterfully for the situation and edged Bangladesh closer. Shamim’s slog sweep against Rashid Khan cost him his wicket but Hridoy struck three fours and two sixes in his 32-ball knock to keep Bangladesh on track going into the last over. Janat, who took 3-15, became the 50th bowler and second Afghanistan player after Rashid Khan to claim a T20 hat trick. “The ground was very wet and 50% of our strength was taken away from us with the wet ball,” Rashid said. “But we still bowled well, a great effort by the team. With the bowling unit we have, that total was enough but in T20 one innings can take away the game from you. If the top order was a bit more careful we could have got 20-25 more (runs).” Afghanistan also recovered from an early collapse to post 154-7, courtesy of Mohammad Nabi’s 40-ball unbeaten 54. Omarzai complemented him with an 18 ball-33 studded by four sixes. He and Nabi put on 56 runs for the sixth wicket after Afghanistan was 87-5 in the 14th over. Thanks to Nabi and Omarzai’s assault, Afghanistan scored 60 runs in the last five overs to offer a competitive total. Nabi smote six fours and one six. Afghanistan didn’t start the match well. Left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed claimed the wicket of Hazratullah Zazai for 8 in the third over. Fast bowler Taskin Ahmed dismissed Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who pulled it straight to Mehidy Hasan at deep backward on 16. Left-arm pacer Shoriful got the better of Ibrahim Zadran for 8, leaving Afghanistan at 32-3. But Nabi resisted. Shakib, who had figures of 2-27, bagged Janat for 3 then Mehidy removed Najibullah Zadran when he was building a good partnership with Nabi. Najibullah was stumped for 23, ending the 35-run partnership. But Nabi found support in Omarzai to frustrate Bangladesh. Shakib broke that partnership, but Nabi pulled Mustafizur Rahman for a boundary through deep midwicket to raise his fifth half-century off 39 balls and also brought up his team’s 150. The second and final T20 is on Sunday.