Afghanistan won by 6 wkts
PLAYER OF THE MATCH : Rashid Khan
Batter
Bowler
Another Afghanistan victory, another Rashid Khan special. Doesn't he get bored of this? Incredible form he is in for a while now and let's see if any team/batsman can come up with a successful plan to counter him. The other big name, Nabi, also showed his class tonight and that means that the final game of the series will be a dead rubber. Bangladesh will hope to salvage some pride while the Afghanistan boys will want to keep the momentum going and affect a whitewash. Hope you enjoyed all the coverage tonight. This is Hariprasad signing off on behalf of Akshay and Raju. Goodnight folks!
Rashid Khan, Man of the Match: (On his consistency) The team expects this from me and I try to do to the best of abilities, in bowling as well as fielding and batting. (Regarding bowling in pressure situations) I used to bowl after 11 overs before also, that was the plan and I was mentally ready to bowl in the middle and also in the death overs. The idea was to bowl that back of a length and put pressure on the batsmen. (On his triple-strike) It was a crucial time to take their wickets, we know how good they are. Just kept things simple and it worked. Thanks to the crowd for their support in the two games. Hope to see the same for the third game as well.
Asghar Stanikzai: We know our strengths, especially in T20I in both batting and bowling. They showed their class, we knew the spinners would enjoy the pitch and they helped us seize the momentum. Thank you very much, thanks to all the fans for coming here and making us feel like playing in Kabul.
Shakib Al Hasan: I thought we bowled and fielded well. We were 15-20 runs short, kept losing wickets after the good start we had. They kept the pressure on us in the middle overs and we lost wickets. Couldn't get to a good score and that's where the match was lost. He (Rashid) bowled really well, both the games. They've got some world class spinners and they're doing their job. We need to come up with better plans against them. They (Bangladeshi bowlers) executed their plan well today, overall we bowled really well. In these kind of pitches, 135 is hard to defend but the credit goes to the boys for trying hard.
Time for the presentations.
23:09 Local Time: What a frenetic finish! These low-scoring chases can often backfire for the chasing side if they take things too lightly and it nearly happened for Afghanistan. Their top three took their time, especially Ghani on a sluggish pitch as the Bangladesh bowlers stuck to their task despite not having enough runs on the board. The required run rate started to climb and one got the feeling that Afghanistan were digging themselves into a hole. However, Shenwari, promoted to number 3 started the attack towards the slog overs and then it was Nabi, who held his nerve to clinically complete the chase with seven balls to spare. Bangladesh would rue their batting performance, they were about 15-20 short and that made all the difference eventually.
Rubel to Nabi, SIX, Nabi finishes it off in style! What a blitzkrieg from the seasoned all-rounder! We thought this would go down to the wire but he had other ideas. Went bang, bang, bang to end the game in a flash. Slightly back of a length, this delivery, Nabi just backs away and flat-bats it into the skies. Very high but also comfortably over the ropes straight down the ground. Afghanistan seal the series
Rubel to Nabi, FOUR, slashed away! Nabi wants to finish this in a hurry. Shortish and this is the normal pace delivery, he backs away to slice it easily over short third man. Just 6 needed now!
Rubel to Nabi, no run, slower and short, Nabi is caught by surprise as he sways away from the line
Rubel to Nabi, SIX, this has been smashed over cow corner! Cometh the hour, cometh the man, Nabi. He's taken the sting out of this chase with just two shots. Length ball, allows him to swing across the line and he makes cracking contact to clear the ropes. Top stroke! 10 off 10 needed now!
Rubel to Nabi, FOUR, nonchalance from Nabi! How coolly has he struck this. Backs away a touch and Rubel responds by going full, drilled straight over the bowler's head. One bounce into the fence. Perfect start to the over for Afghanistan
Rubel Hossain [3.0-0-18-1] is back into the attack
Shafiqullah Shafiq, right handed bat, comes to the crease
20 needed off 12. Massive over coming up. Unless Bangladesh can pick a wicket, I guess Afghanistan can wrest control of the chase.
END OF OVER 18
9 Runs
AFG: 115 - 4
1 0 1 1 6 W
Samiullah Shenwari
49 (41)
Mohammad Nabi
11 (10)
Mosaddek Hossain
3-0-21-2
Mosaddek Hossain to Shenwari, out Bowled!! Huge shout from Mosaddek, he has his revenge and it's a big wicket. Floated up very full on middle and off, Shenwari wanted to repeat the previous lofted stroke but couldn't get under it. The ball just brushed the bail en route to Rahim. The umpires just wanted to confirm whether it was actually a bowled dismissal, replays confirm it with ease. Has the wicket come too late for Bangladesh though? Shenwari b Mosaddek Hossain 49(41) [4s-2 6s-3]
Mosaddek Hossain to Shenwari, THATS OUT!! Bowled!!
This is bizarre. Shenwari seems to be bowled and is already walking as well. The umpires want to check it though, just to be sure. Clearly gone!
Mosaddek Hossain to Shenwari, SIX, it's Shenwari's night, that's for sure. Another powerful strike into the stands. It was fired well outside off, he still managed to fetch it and mauled it with some serious power. Comfortably over long-on
Mosaddek Hossain to Nabi, 1 run, another mistimed hoick. On the shorter side and Nabi goes hard at it. Drags it to deep mid-wicket
Mosaddek Hossain to Shenwari, 1 run, uppish but doesn't carry to long-on. Flattish and short, Shenwari's flat-batted hit doesn't have the required elevation