Photo: Firoz Ahmed
Towhid Hridoy brought up his third ODI fifty to help Bangladesh to 169 for nine in a rain-interrupted first of the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram on Wednesday.
However, courtesy of the DLS method, Afghanistan will be chasing a 164-run target in a game reduced to 43-over-a-side.
Hridoy’s 69-ball 51 featured just three boundaries but was the only highlight in what transpired to be a disappointing effort by the Tigers after they were put into bat first.
Opener Tamim Iqbal got a decent start but could not capitalise on it as he departed early having scored a 21-ball 13.
Tamim, who said yesterday that he is ‘not at a hundred per cent’ due to a recurring back issue that saw him miss the lone Test against the Afghans last month, succumbed to familiar fears as he nicked one to the keeper off left-arm pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi, who has now taken the prized scalp of the Bangladesh captain on all the four occasions the two faced each other.
Liton Das (26), Najmul Hossain Shanto (12), and Shakib Al Hasan (15) all got starts but failed to cash in. Shakib’s 38-ball 15 particularly stood out as the left-handed batter struggled to get going and eventually was put out of his misery by pacer Azmatullah Omarzai. The left-handed batter chipped one to short cover at the end of the 23rd over.
Mushfiqur followed suit as he misjudged a good-length delivery by Rashid Khan in the following over. The right-handed batter tried to pull it but could only manage to chop it onto the stumps on his third delivery.
Rain interrupted play twice and the match was reduced to 43 overs. Other than the top five, no other batter could reach double figures as the Tigers ended their innings at 169 for nine.
Farooqi scalped three wickets, while Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan picked up two each.
