Zazai Stars as Afghanistan Square T20I Series against Bangladesh

Hazratullah Zazai led Afghanistan's fightback to ensure a drawn T20I series with an eight-wicket win over Bangladesh in the second T20I. After going down by 61 runs in the first T20I, an all-round Afghanistan first kept Bangladesh to just 115 after the hosts opted to bat, and then chased it down with 14 balls to spare. They ended the white-ball tour to Bangladesh with a morale-boosting win after most games in the series being one-sided.

Fazalhaq Farooqi and Azmatullah were impressive with three wickets apiece, conceding 40 runs between themselves in their eight overs. Skipper Mohammad Nabi only gave way 14 in his four as Bangladesh failed to get going.

They lost wickets at regular intervals, failing to get any partnerships going. The only resistance they faced was from Mushfiqur Rahim (30) and Mahmudullah (21) who added 43 for the fifth wicket.

Bangladesh struck early with Rahmanullah Gurbaz's wicket, but Zazai and Usman Ghani batted them out of the game with a 99-run stand in a paltry chase.

Zazai reached his fifty but Ghani fell short by 3. It was only fitting when Zazai ended the game by clearing the ropes to finish unbeaten on a 45-ball 59, studded with five sixes and three fours.

Brief scores: Bangladesh 115/9 in 20 overs (Mushfiqur Rahim 30; Fazalhaq Farooqi 3-18, Azmatullah 3-22) lost to Afghanistan 121/2 in 17.4 overs (Hazratullah Zazai 59*, Usman Ghani 47) by 8 wickets.