Published 18:17 IST, September 9th 2019
Afghanistan beats Bangladesh in one-off test, records second ever win
Afghanistan defeated Bangladesh in the one-off test match by 224 runs to register its second test match victory. Rashid Khan picked 11 wickets in the match
Afghanistan defeated Bangladesh by 224 runs in their one-off test on Monday. Rashid Khan, who captained his side, led from the front as he scalped 11 wickets. He became the youngest captain to win a test match and was also awarded the man of the match award for his performance, which included a half-century.
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.
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."
A modest start to their test career
Afghanistan made their test debut in June 2018 when they played India in Bengaluru and it was a debut to forget as they were defeated by an innings and 262 runs in just two days. Their second match was against Ireland earlier this year, which marked their first test win. They had won the match by 7 wickets.
Updated 23:07 IST, September 9th 2019