Mohammad Nabi’s Late Push Takes Afghanistan to 147 Against Bangladesh in the 2nd T20I

Afghanistan has once again displayed a disappointing batting performance against Bangladesh in the 2nd T20I at Sharjah. The problem in their middle order batting continued in the second game, even though the openers gave a good start to the team. 

Due to this, Afghanistan managed to score only 147 against Bangladesh at the end of the first innings. This is certainly a below-par score that will require a serious bowling effort by the Afghan bowlers in the second innings.

Today, the toss was won by Bangladesh and they quickly decided to bowl first after analyzing the outcome of yesterday’s match. They made two changes in their squad by including Mohammad Saifuddin and Shoriful Islam in place of Taskin Ahmed and Tanzim Hasan Sakib. They made the decision to rest their main bowlers, as the third game of the series will require their services.

On the other hand, Afghanistan made three changes in their squad. They brought in Wafiullah Tarakhil, Abdollah Ahmadzai and Mujeeb Ur Rahman in place of Mohammad Ishaq, Sharafuddin Ashraf and Fareed Ahmad for today’s game.

When Afghanistan came out to bat in the first innings, they were looking confident and organized. As compared to the last match, the Afghan openers played the Powerplay cautiously today. They took down the opening attack of Bangladesh in a steady style. This gave the Afghan team a good start in the game, as they ensured to keep wickets in hand.

However, after the Powerplay, Sediqullah Atal lost his wicket while trying to lift the momentum of the game. He went back to the pavilion after scoring just 23 runs in 19 balls. Soon after that, Ibrahim Zadran was also dismissed by Nasum Ahmed in the 11th over. The fall of these two openers then made things difficult for Afghan batters.

The pressure built by Bangladesh bowlers in the middle overs finally started to pay dividends. The Afghan batters lost their wickets in quick succession, giving away all the momentum they had built earlier in the innings. This allowed Bangladesh bowlers to come back into the game and they did that with perfection.

However, the veteran Mohammad Nabi once again came to the rescue of the Afghanistan team. He played some strong shots at the end of the innings that helped Afghanistan to score a fighting total. Due to Nabi’s late push, Afghanistan managed to score 147 against Bangladesh at the end of the first innings.

The match is now in the balance, as Afghanistan will look to defend this total in the second innings. This is a must-win game for them to stay alive in the series. 

If they fail to do so, Bangladesh will take the game and win the series by an unassailable lead of 2-0.