Afif, Liton step up as Tigers post 163 for five

After suffering batting collapses in the first two T20Is, Bangladesh were able to put a competitive total on the board in the third and final T20I against West Indies as Afif Hossain and Liton Das stepped up for the Tigers at the Providence Stadium in Guyana today. 

Afif notched his second T20I fifty and Liton scored 49 as Bangladesh put on a competitive 163 for five on a good batting surface. Afif and Liton starred with the bat today for the Tigers today as the duo strung together a 57-run stand for the third wicket.

Bangladesh seemed to have come down on the ground with a plan set in their mind as the openers -- Anamul Haque and Liton Das -- were always on their toes, taking singles and doubles -- something that Bangladesh have done rarely in the first two matches of the series. 

The Tigers were sailing smoothly till Anamul, trying to go for his second boundary, top-edged an Odean Smith delivery in the fifth over to be caught at the third man region. 

Shakib, who was the lone warrior for Bangladesh with his unbeaten 68 in the second T20I, picked up from where he had left off as the left-hander opened his account with a boundary over backward square off the very first delivery he faced. 

But instead of biding his time in the middle as he did in the previous game, the all-rounder tried to go for another boundary and ended up top-edging a Romario Shepherd delivery to a fielder at midwicket. With five scored of just three deliveries, Shakib returned to the pavilion leaving Bangladesh two for 42 after 5.3 overs.  

With Bangladesh needing to accelerate, Afif Hossain went after Akeal Hosein in the ninth over but his poorly connected pull just fell short of the fielder at mid-wicket and went on to reach the ropes. Liton smashed his and the team's first maximum in the same over, going down on one knee to slog sweep it over the cow corner region as Bangladesh ended up taking 13 off that Akeal Hosein over.

The best shot from Liton, however, came in the 12th over when he got on top of an outside off delivery from Odean Smith to clear the cover fence with ease as the elegant right-hander held the pose for cameras for a while. 

Afif, too, joined the party as he clipped one off his pads, which had just the right amount of power to clear the fielder at long-on, in the same over. With Smith bowling two wides and conceding a four down the legside before these two maximums, Bangladesh managed to amass 20 off that over. 

However, just when it seemed that Liton was getting into the groove and is ready to accelerate, the right-hander fell to a Hayden Walsh delivery in the very next over as he tried to hit over the cover region but only managed to edge one to the point fielder. Liton had to walk back after a 41-ball 49, laced with three boundaries and two maximums. 

But that did not bog down Afif as the left-hander further upped the ante, smashing Shepherd for a six and a four in consecutive deliveries to help the Tigers take 16 in the 16th over.   

Meanwhile, with two boundaries and a six to his name, Mahmudullah scored 22 off 19 deliveries as the Tigers' skipper starred in a crucial 49-run fourth-wicket stand with Afif, who fell to a runout just after getting to his fifty off 38 deliveries.