Bangladesh and Afghanistan locked horns in the first T20I of a three-match series at Dehradun. This was going to be first international fixture at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, which is the second home base for Afghanistan after Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground.

Bangladesh opted to bowl first after winning the toss. Afghanistan started well and didn’t lose any wicket during the powerplay. However, a 62-run opening partnership came to an end as Rubel Hossain bowled out Usman Ghani on 26.

The Afghan batters’ duty was now to capitalize on the start they got, but Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmadullah Riyad led a collapse in their batting line-up as Afghanistan lost three wickets in back-to-back overs.

Shakib removed Shahzad for 40 runs and initiated the collapse. Mahmudullah struck twice in the 14th over to by dismissing Najibullah Zadran and Mohammad Nabi, who failed to make their mark with the bat.

However, Afghanistan recovered quickly as their skipper Asghar Stanikzai provided support to a quick-fire innings by Samiullah Shenwari and another cameo from Shafiqullah Shafiq.

The Afghan captain played a rather slow innings of 25 runs from 24 deliveries and stood firm against the Bangladesh bowlers while helping Samiullah and Shafiq add a total of 60 runs from just 26 deliveries. Smaiullah clubbed 36 off 18 before Shafiq made 24 from 8 balls.

Shenwari was dismissed by Abu Jayed and then the last over from Abul Hasan saw the Afghans give three wickets away in three successive deliveries as the bowler dismissed Shafiq and Karim Janat with Stanikzai getting run out in-between.

In reply, Bangladesh lost their opener Tamim Iqbal in the very first delivery of their batting innings as the left-hander was trapped lbw by Mujeeb Ur Rahman. The Tigers then lost the wicket of their captain as well. Shakib made 15 runs before returning to the pavilion.

Nabi, who had bagged the wicket of Shakib, also got Liton Das out for 30 runs and following Mushfiqur Rahim’s departure at the hands of Rashid Khan, Bangladesh experienced a collapse which saw them suffer a 45-run defeat in the end.

Except for a 20-run knock from and another 29-run innings from Mahmudullah Riyad, the Tigers had no decent contributions from the rest of the batters. Mosaddek was the only player to enter a double-digit score among the last six batsmen as Bangladesh were bundled out in 19 overs.

Among the Afghan bowlers, Karim Janat got a wicket as well, but Rashid Khan was the pick of the bowlers and took three scalps while Shapoor Zadran also took as many wickets.