Bangladesh will be looking to level the series when they take on Afghanistan in the second of the three-match ODI series at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi today.
The match is scheduled to begin at 6:00pm Bangladesh Standard Time, and T Sports will telecast it live.
The Tigers are in a must-win situation to keep the series alive and avoid their third successive ODI series defeat at the hands of Afghanistan, as they lost their previous two series in 2023 and 2024.
Bangladesh suffered a five-wicket defeat to Afghanistan in the first ODI, owing to a poor batting performance, as they were restricted to 221 in 48.5 overs.
For Afghanistan, Azmatullah Omarzai took 3-40 and then made 40, as they chased down the target to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
It was their ninth loss in the last 10 ODIs, highlighting the decline in their once favourite format. The majority of the responsibility for this decline could be attributed to the batting lineup.
However, captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz said they are not concerned about the defeat; rather, they are looking forward to learning from the mistakes.
鈥榃e had a chance. Now we have an opportunity to get better because we know we had some mistakes this match, and we need to learn from these matches as soon as possible,鈥� said Mehidy after the first match on Wednesday.
Bangladesh squandered a promising start after some soft dismissals early. Although they briefly recovered with a 101-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Mehidy and Towhid Hridoy.
While the other batters, Jaker Ali and Nurul Hasan, fell to leg-spinner Rashid Khan, which cost Bangladesh a good total, as they lost their last six wickets for 67 runs to be all out.
Mehidy believes they were 40 runs short, but he hopes they can make a comeback in their second match today.
鈥業 am confident that our boys will do well in the next match. Already, we lost 40 runs on this wicket,鈥� he said.
鈥業 mentioned that if we could get 260 plus, it would definitely be better, because we are a good bowling side, and we are not giving away many runs. The problem is in the back end; we need to get partnerships.鈥�
Meanwhile, the ex-captain Najmul Hossain Shanto will be under the scanner after just making 2 off 5 in the first match.
He came into the series with a single fifty in four matches for Rajshahi in the NCL T20. The left-handed batter managed just 37 runs in Bangladesh鈥檚 last ODI series against Sri Lanka.
Earlier, Bangladesh clinched the T20 series 3-0.
