Gurbaz, Omarzai propel Afghanistan to series win over Bangladesh

SHARJAH (Agencies): Rahmanullah Gurbaz hit a cracking century and Azmatullah Omarzai showed allround skills on Monday to give Afghanistan a five wicket victory in the third one-day international and a series win over Bangladesh. Omarzai took four wickets before hitting an undefeated 77-ball 70 and Opener Gurbaz hit a 120-ball 101 as Afghanistan chased down a 245-run target in 48.2 overs in Sharjah. Bangladesh were lifted to 244-8 by Mohammad Mahmudullah, run out off the last ball of the innings for run-a-ball 98, and a solid 66 by stand-in skipper Mehidy Hasan Miraz. The victory gave Afghanistan a 2-1 win in the series in Sharjah. Afghanistan won the first match by 92 runs while Bangladesh took the second by 68 runs. The series win is Afghanistan’s third successive this year, having also beaten Ireland (2-0) and South Africa (2-1) following their wins over England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in last year’s World Cup in India. Bangladesh pacers Mustafizur Rahman (2-50) and Nahid Rana (2-40) had jolted Afghanistan to 84-3 before Gurbaz and Omarzai added 100 for the fourth wicket.

Gurbaz, who hit seven sixes and five boundaries in his eighth ODI century, fell in the 39th over with 61 needed as Bangladesh pressed. Omarzai hit five sixes and three boundaries added 58 runs with Mohammad Nabi (27-ball 34) to avoid any turnaround, hitting the winning six. Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi said he was proud of his team. “I am very happy as a captain,” said Shahidi. “When we lost the toss we were a bit worried because it’s tough to bat second in Sharjah but our batters did very well.” Miraz praised Afghanistan. “I think credit goes to Afghanistan the way they played in this series,” said Miraz. “Gurbaz and Omarzai did very well and we couldn’t get wickets to win the match.” Earlier, Bangladesh, without injured skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto, were given a sound 53-run start by Soumya Sarkar (24) and Tanzid Hasan (19) before four wickets fell in for 19 runs in 38 balls. Mahmudullah and Miraz repaired the innings with a 155-run fifth wicket stand as they blunted Afghanistan spinners, who managed just two wickets between them. Miraz became one of Omarzai’s victim in the 46th over but Mahmudullah continued to bat solidly till he was run out off the last ball, trying to sneak a second run. Mahmudullah hit three sixes and seven fours while Miraz’s 119-ball knock contained four fours. Omarzai took a career best 4-37, improving on his 3-56 against Sri Lanka at Pallekele earlier this year.

Brief scores:

Afghanistan 246 for 5 (Gurbaz 101, Omarzai 70 not out, Rana 2-40) beat Bangladesh 244 for 8 (Mahmudullah 98, Mehidy 66, Omarzai 4-37) by five wickets.