Zadran, Nabi Fireworks Take Afghanistan to 293 Against Bangladesh in 3rd ODI

Afghanistan has posted a strong total of 293 against Bangladesh in the 3rd ODI at Abu Dhabi. Their innings was powered by the batting brilliance of Ibrahim Zadran, who scored 95 runs off just 111 balls in the first innings. 

He was looking well set to score a century, but a terrible mix-up in the middle resulted in his run-out. Besides Zadran, Mohammad Nabi also played a powerful knock of 62 runs, giving Afghanistan the much-needed impetus at the back end of the innings.

Batting first, Afghanistan made a strong start in the Powerplay by hitting multiple boundaries. Both of their openers, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran, looked in good touch. They took down the Bangladesh bowlers positively by making full use of the batting conditions.

However, Tanvir Islam made the breakthrough in the 16th over by removing Rahmanullah Gurbaz. This wicket brought Sediqullah Atal to the crease, who is also in decent touch this series. He played superbly with Zadran, ensuring not to lose any wickets again quickly. The batter was ultimately dismissed in the 32nd over when Afghanistan had set up a good base.

The fall of Sediqullah Atal gave the Bangladesh team a slight chance to recover. They picked up two more wickets after that by keeping things tight. The biggest one was the dismissal of Ibrahim Zadran, who was looking well set to score a magnificent century. They trapped him by setting aggressive fields, as he was run out in the 36th over after scoring 95 runs.

However, the arrival of Mohammad Nabi changed things once again. He played with a positive intent as soon as he arrived at the crease. His superb hitting gave Afghanistan a strong push, ensuring they regained the momentum that had been lost after the dismissals of Ikram Alikhil and Azmatullah Omarzai.

Due to Mohammad Nabi’s remarkable innings of 62 runs, Afghanistan managed to score 293 at the end of the 1st innings. This is certainly a good score at Abu Dhabi, because batting here in the second innings often becomes difficult for teams. It would be interesting to see how Bangladesh will plan their chase, as their batters are currently low on confidence due to losing back-to-back games.