An all-round bowling performance before twin fifties from openers Tanzid Hasan and Parvez Hossain helped the Bangladesh national team to beat Afghanistan by four wickets in the opening game of the three-match T20I series at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Thursday.听
Afghanistan posted 151 in 20 overs thanks to Rahmanullah Gurbaz鈥檚 40 off 31 and Mohammad Nabi鈥檚 38 off 25.听
Tanzid and Parvez then played 37 balls each to score 51 and 54 runs, respectively, as Bangladesh clinched the victory with eight balls remaining.听
Afghanistan lost three wickets for 31 runs inside the powerplay as Nasum Ahmed and Tanzim Hasan struck early. Soon they became 40-4 when Rishad Hossain joined the party.听
Gurbaz, coming at three, struck two partnerships of 33 and 22 runs with Azmatullah Omarzai and Mohammad Nabi, respectively, before becoming Tanzim鈥檚 second scalp.听
Nabi, who hit one four and four sixes, then helped Afghanistan to lift to cross the 150-run mark. Sharafuddin Ashraf also contributed with his 12-ball 17-run innings.听
Tanzid and Parvez then frustrated Afghanistan in their 109-run opening stand. This was their second 100-run opening partnership after reaching the same feat against Pakistan in June.听
Parvez, who needed 35 balls to reach his fifty, hit three fours and six sixes each before becoming the first of five batters to be trapped lbw.听
His wicket triggered a collapse into the Bangladesh innings as they lost six wickets for just nine runs; four of those wickets went to Rashid Khan. Fareed Ahmad and Noor Ahmad took the other two.听
However, Nurul Hasan remained unbeaten on 23 off 13, while Rishad Hossain was not out on 14 off nine to bring Bangladesh the 1-0 lead.听
The second game is scheduled on Friday.听
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