Bangladesh clinch historic T20 series victory against Afghanistan

Sylhet: Bangladesh secured their first-ever T20 series win against Afghanistan, triumphing by six wickets in the second Twenty20 International on Sunday.

Opener Liton Das led the charge with an impressive 35 runs, propelling Bangladesh to a comprehensive victory and a 2-0 series triumph.

Liton partnered with Afif Hossain, contributing to a commanding 67-run opening stand.

Bangladesh reached the target of 119-4 in just 16.1 overs after Taskin Ahmed's brilliant performance of 3-33 restricted Afghanistan to a modest 116-7 in a rain-curtailed 17 overs.

The victory in the second T20 match, following Bangladesh's nail-biting two-wicket win in the series opener on Friday, sealed their third consecutive T20 series win.

Notably, this historic win marks their first triumph against Afghanistan in three attempts, adding to their earlier victories over world champions England (3-0) and Scotland (2-1) this year.

Speaking after the match, Shakib Al Hasan expressed his satisfaction, stating, "Despite losing a couple of wickets, given the start we had, we were always ahead. Given the ground conditions, I knew their spinners would have it tough."

In response, Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan refrained from making excuses, emphasizing the importance of skill in T20 matches.

He admitted, "Weather is not an excuse for a team. T20 should be decided on skills and we were not good enough there, especially in batting."

Rain interrupted the match for an hour and a half after just seven overs, resulting in officials reducing the contest to 17 overs per side.

While Bangladesh dominated the one-off Test match against Afghanistan with a record-breaking 546-run victory, Afghanistan claimed the three-match one-day international series with a 2-1 win.