BAN vs AFG prediction: Who will win the 2nd T20I?
Bangladesh and Afghanistan will face off in the last game of a two-match T20I series on Saturday, 5 March. The Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka will host the clash.
Bangladesh have been clinical thus far in their home campaign against the Afghans. After winning the ODI series 2-1, the Tigers started the T20Is on a resounding note.
On Thursday, 3 March, they won the first T20I by 61 runs to take an important 1-0 lead in the series. After electing to bat first, the Tigers didn’t have the best of starts as Fazalhaq Farooqi got rid of Mohammad Naim. Munim Shahriar, who looked good on his T20I debut, also couldn’t survive for long. After hitting three fours, he perished to the guile of Rashid Khan.
Shakib Al Hasan and skipper Mahmudullah Riyad couldn’t make much of an impact either. But Liton Das carried his form from the ODI series. The Dinajpur-born batter scored a ton and fifty in the ODIs after initially failing to score in the first match of the tour.
In the first T20I, he top-scored for Bangladesh, having scored 60 runs off 44 balls with four fours and two sixes. Afif Hossain Dhrubo also chipped in with a handy 25-run knock. Farooqi and Azmatullah Omarzai were the pick of the Afghan bowlers with two wickets apiece.
The Afghans found themselves in all sorts of trouble in their run-chase after being reduced to 20/4 in 4.3 overs. Nasum Ahmed got rid of Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Darwish Rasooli and Karim Janat to push the visiting team on the backfoot.
Nasum, in the end, finished with figures of 4-0-10-4 to win the Player of the Match award. Najibullah Zadran, who scored two fifties in the ODIs, made 27 with one four and a six, but Shakib removed him in the 13th over.
Mohammad Nabi and Omarzai also got starts before perishing. Shakib couldn’t perform with the bat, but chipped in with two important wickets. Shoriful Islam picked up three wickets as well. Mahedi Hasan was the only Bangladesh bowler who failed to make a breakthrough.
Will Afghanistan (AFG) beat Bangladesh (BAN)?
Leaving aside the third ODI, Afghanistan have struggled to find their feet. After getting bowled out for a score under 100, their confidence won’t be on the higher side. Bangladesh will start their next game as favorites.
Prediction: Bangladesh to win the match.