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Published 18:09 IST, September 11th 2019

Afghanistan faster off the blocks than India & NZ with 2nd test win

Afghanistan are on cloud nine after their second Test victory over Bangladesh by 224 runs, thanks to an all-round show from newly-appointed skipper Rashid Khan

Reported by: Koushik Narayanan
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Afghanistan are on cloud nine after their second Test victory over Bangladesh, thanks to an all-round show from newly-appointed skipper Rashid Khan. The youngest Test captain picked up 11 wickets and smashed a half-century to help Afghanistan upset the Tigers in their home ground. Afghanistan defeated Bangladesh by 224 runs in their one-off test, decimating the latter and handing them a bitter defeat. Afghanistan have achieved a rare feat and have beaten the likes of criceting nations like India, New Zealand and Bangladesh as they picked up p their second Test victory. 

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Afghanistan take just three matches to register two victories

As new entrants to the longer format of the game, Afghanistan first stunned the world by pulling off a win against Ireland in their maiden Test contest. The underdog side picked up their second victory after defeating Bangladesh bya huge margin. With this win, Afghanistan registered a rare feat by winning two matches from just three Test games played while India, New Zealand and Bangladesh took as many as more than 30 games to register two victories. Former Indian cricketer and commentator Aakash Chopra took to the micro-blogging social media website to put out the stats and inform fans about Afghanistan's achievement. The former Indian cricketer lauded the efforts of the team and wished them luck for the future. See the tweet here:

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Afghanistan's second test win

Winning the toss and choosing to bat first, Afghanistan made 342 runs before they were bowled out, and in response, Bangladesh scored 205 runs as they were bowled out as well. Afghanistan scored 260 runs in the second innings, setting a target of 398 for the home side to win the test match. However, they could not match the bowling attack, spearheaded by the young captain as he picked up six wickets, limiting the home side to just 173 runs. The last day was marred by rains, as two sessions were washed out and only about one hour of play was left in the day. Afghanistan made full use of the time available as the wickets started falling. Khan completed the rout as he bowled to Soumya Sarkar, who was batting till the very end as the ball took an inside edge, struck his pads, went into the air and in the hands of the fielder at short leg. The match also marked the final test match for Mohammad Nabi, who received a guard of honour. 

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In the post-match ceremony, Khan said, "We are new to this format, so credit goes to the coaching staff for their support. Everyone applied themselves and stuck to their plans. Credit goes to the batsmen who batted so well in the first innings and the youngsters for the way they bowled. He signed off with a tribute to Nabi, dedicating the award to Man of the Match award to him, "Legend Nabi had his last game, he's helped us a lot and I thank him for his contribution to Afghanistan. I would like to dedicate this Man of the Match award to him". Shakib Al Hasan, when asked for the reason for the defeat said, "I think it's a combination of application of our batsmen and Afghanistan bowling. We need to do a lot of hard work to become a good, consistent team. After playing for 20 years, we cannot say it's a build-up process. We are playing a Test after quite some time but credit goes to Afghanistan. We need to forget this match as soon as possible and focus on the T20 series."

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17:22 IST, September 11th 2019