Bangladesh beats Afghanistan by two wickets in first T20I

Sylhet: Bangladesh defeated Afghanistan by two wickets in the first T20 International after a thrilling encounter, with the host chasing a target of 155 runs in the last over.

In the first T20 match played at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Friday, Bangladesh captain Shakib Al-Hasan won the toss and decided to field first.

Afghanistan scored 154 runs for the loss of seven wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

Mohammad Nabi played an unbeaten innings of 54 runs off 40 balls. Azmatullah Omarzai scored 33 runs and Najeebullah Zadran scored 23 runs.

Bangladeshi bowlers Shakib Al-Hasan took two wickets. While Nasim Ahmed, Tasin Ahmed, Shariful Islam, Mustafizur Rehman and Mehdi Hasan took one wicket each.

Bangladesh achieved Afghanistan's target of 155 runs at the loss of six wickets in the last over after an interesting contest.

Chasing the target, Bangladesh got off to a disappointing start as their first four batsmen were bowled out for a total of 64.

On this occasion, Tawheed Haridoy and Shamim Hussain played an important role in the victory of their team by forming a wonderful partnership of 73 runs. Tawheed was not out with 47 runs while Shamim Hussain was dismissed with 33 runs.

In the last over of the match, Bangladesh needed six runs to win when Afghan bowler Karim Jannat made the match more sensational by doing a brilliant hat-trick, but Sharif-ul-Islam scored a four on the fifth ball of the last over.

Bangladesh's Tawheed Haridoy was adjudged the man of the match for his brilliant innings. After this victory, Bangladesh has taken a 1-0 lead in the two-match T20I series.