Nasum, Liton star as Tigers thump Afghans

Liton Das shone with the bat, left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed replicated his career-best T20I figures while Shakib Al Hasan reached another milestone as Bangladesh thumped Afghanistan by 61 runs in the first of two T20Is at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur today. 

Liton smashed a fluent 44-ball 60 to help Bangladesh amass a competitive 155 for eight before Nasum's four for 10 in four overs helped Tigers bundle out Afghanistan for just 94 in 17.4 overs. Nasum finished with the exact bowling figures in a T20I against New Zealand at the same venue last year.    

Nasum wreaked havoc early in the innings, picking up all the first four wickets and reducing Afghanistan to four for 20 in just 4.3 overs. The 27-year-old could have also completed his maiden T20I fifer but an LBW decision, against Mohammad Nabi, was overturned following a review in the fifth over.   

After that, Afghanistan skipper Nabi and Najibullah Zadran somewhat started rebuilding but could never keep up with the increasing required rate. Premier all-rounder Shakib then broke the 37-run stand between Nabi and Zadran when he had the former hole one out to the fielder at deep cover in the 11th over.

And with that wicket, Shakib reached the milestone of completing his 400 wickets in white-ball cricket. The all-rounder then removed Zadran (27 off 26) as well in his following over.  

Afghanistan could never stage a comeback in the game as they lost wickets at regular intervals and eventually succumbed to a heavy defeat.

Earlier, despite losing two early wickets, Liton, who smashed four boundaries and two maximums, stitched together stands of 22, 33 and 46 with Shakib, Mahmudullah Riyad and Afif Hossain to see Tigers finish with a comprehensive total. 
 

Shakib reaches another milestone  

Premier all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan completed 400 wickets in white-ball cricket during Bangladesh's first T20I against Afghanistan in Mirpur today. 

Shakib reached the milestone when he had Afghanistan skipper Mohammad Nabi hole one out to the fielder at deep cover in the 11th over. 

Shakib is the ninth cricketer to achieve the feat of scalping 400 or more wickets in limited-overs cricket. Former Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan leads the chart, having picked up 547 wickets in 362 limited-overs matches. However, Shakib is the first left-arm spinner to achieve the feat. 

Shakib, meanwhile, scalped another wicket -- that of Najibullah Zadran -- in the game as Afghanistan lost six for just 65 in 13 overs. 

Nasum wreaks havoc

Bangladesh spinner Nasum Ahmed dismantled Afghanistan's top order, picking up four wickets in quick succession in their first T20I at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur today.

Defending a competitive 156-run target, the left-arm spinner removed opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the very first over as he had the right-hander top edge one to the fielder at cover point.

Nasum then followed it up with two more wickets -- those of Hazratullah Zazai and debutant Darwish Rasooli -- in his second over as Bangladesh put Afghanistan on the backfoot early in the second innings.

He struck once again in his third over when Karim Janat lofted one straight to extra cover in the fifth over. The 27-year-old could have completed his maiden T20I fifer in the same over but an LBW decision, against Mohammad Nabi, was overturned following a review.