Bangladesh 129 for 3 (Litton 53*, Shakib 39, Farooqi 2-26) beat Afghanistan 126 (Omarzai 56, Shoriful 4-21, Taskin 2-23) by seven wickets
Shoriful Islam's career-best figures of 4 for 21 fired Bangladesh to a seven-wicket consolation win in the third ODI in Chattogram. Taskin Ahmed and Taijul Islam were the support act, taking two wickets each, while Shakib Al Hasan was at his miserly best, taking 1 for 13 from his ten overs to keep Afghanistan to 126 - their lowest total against Bangladesh.
Bangladesh completed the chase in 23.3 overs, with a clinical approach that was missing in the first two ODIs. The bowling attack bounced back after conceding 331 for 9 in the previous game. Shakib's thrifty spell was a key feature of this, and only the third completed ODI spell for Bangladesh where 13 or fewer runs were conceded - tellingly, Shakib has been the bowler on all three occasions.
Only Azmatullah Omarzai's maiden ODI fifty kept the visitors from stumbling to an even smaller score. He made 56 off 71 balls at No. 7, an innings that showed up the rest of the Afghanistan batting line-up for being rather lethargic against Bangladesh's accurate bowling.
Their rot began in the third over when Ibrahim Zadran, one of the centurions from the previous game, edged a Shoriful delivery that was going away from him. Rahmat Shah followed him later in the over when he edged another delivery that was angling away, but was slightly shorter in length. Rahmat's duck took his tally for the series to just ten.
Taskin got into the act next, when he removed the dangerous Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who made 145 in the previous game, for six. Gurbaz swung his bat at a bouncer, Mushfiqur intercepting that edge with a fine leaping catch over his head. When Shoriful had Mohammad Nabi trapped lbw in the ninth over, it was only the third time Bangladesh had taken the first four wickets with 15 or fewer runs on the board.
Shakib struck next, when he came around the wicket to Najibullah Zadran, trapping him lbw as the left-hander missed a sweep shot. Hashmatullah Shahidi was bolwed by Taijul on the attempted reverse-sweep and by then Afghanistan were reeling at 53 for 6 and going nowhere with close to half their innings completed.
Shoriful completed his four-wicket haul when debutant Abdul Rahman pulled one to Taijul at fine leg. Incidentally, he has taken his three four-fours all in the month of July - in 2021 against Zimbabwe, in 2022 against West Indies, and now in 2023 against Afghanistan.
Omarzai looked like the only batter capable of mounting a recovery for the visitors. His 56 off 71 balls included a four and three sixes. He added 36 runs for the ninth wicket with Mujeeb Ur Rahman, over 9.4 overs. He was the last batter out, miscuing a slog off Taskin, with Mohammad Naim taking a good catch in the deep.
With the bat, Naim did himself no favours, falling for an eight-ball duck. The swinging and seaming Fazalhaq Farooqi delivery he fell to was headed way outside the off stump but dragged back on to the stumps by Naim's attempted cut. It was similar to how he chopped on in the second ODI, although that was a shorter delivery.
Farooqi then removed Najmul Hossain Shanto with a ball that took his off stump - Shanto had made a bit of room to drive, but missed. The two were involved in a bit of back-and-forth earlier in the innings, so the send-off was quite loud.
Shakib and Litton calmed things with a 61-run partnership for the third wicket. Shakib struck five fours in his run-a-ball 39, while Litton played a mostly supporting role at the other end. After Shakib departed, he got the job done, completing the chase with Towhid Hridoy who finished unbeaten on 23.
