Bangladesh succumbed to a new low as they were clean swept by Afghanistan when they lost the third and final ODI of the series by massive 200 runs at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.听
This was Bangladesh鈥檚 fourth biggest margin of defeat in terms of runs against any opposition.
Chasing 293, the Mehidy Hasan Miraz-led side were all out for just 93 runs in 27.1 overs鈥攖heir lowest against Afghanistan鈥攁fter losing their last seven wickets for a mere 23 runs.听
Apart from Saif Hassan, who top-scored with 43 off 54, no other batter could reach double figure as they all looked clueless against the pace of Bilal Sami 鈥� who was playing just his second ODI鈥攁s well as the familiar spin tormentor, Rashid Khan.听
Sami claimed his maiden five-wicket haul as he took 5-33 runs, while Rashid registered a figure of 3-12 in six overs. In the process, Rashid brought his series wickets tally to 11, the joint highest by any bowler in a three-match series in history.听
After Azmatullah Omarzai put Mohammad Naim, who managed seven runs off 24 balls, out of his misery, it was all Bilal and Rashid show for Afghanistan.听
Najmul Hossain Shanto lost all sense of where his stumps were when he tried to cut Bilal after making three off 16.听
Towhid Hridoy became the first Bangladeshi batter of the night to fail to read googlies from Rashid when he was bowled in the 17th over.听
A calamitous collapse ensued when Saif, who had been handling the Afghan bowlers with measured aggression, was bowled by yet another googly from Rashid.听
Mehidy was caught behind off Bilal, while Nurul was trapped lbw off Rashid; in between them, Shamim Hossain was too careless to return to the crease at the non-striker鈥檚 end.
The tail enders then fell one after another to Bilal, as Hasan Mahmud became Bilal鈥檚 fifth scalp of the night.听
Earlier, Ibrahim Zadran鈥檚 95 at the top and Mohammad Nabi鈥檚 blazing 62 off 37 towards the end helped Afghanistan to post 293-9, the highest of the series.听
A 99-run opening partnership between Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (42) put Afghanistan in command at the beginning after they chose to bat first.听
Zadran added 74 runs with Sediqullah Atal for the second wicket to strengthen their grip.听
However, when Zadran was run out for his second successive score of 95, a collapse followed as Afghanistan lost six wickets for 48 runs; part-timer Saif Hassan took three wickets for just six runs.听
When Mehidy felt Saif was done for the night, Nabi decided to be all over the Bangladeshi attack.听
Afghanistan scored 54 runs in the last three overs, including a 25-run over from Mehidy when Nabi hit him for three sixes in three consecutive legitimate deliveries.听
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