Afghanistan amended their course of action winning the third and final ODI against Bangladesh on Monday, 28 February. Beaten comprehensively in the first two ODIs, Afghanistan showed a lot of passion in the dead rubber to win crucial 10 points in the ICC Super League. Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal conceded the same point at the post match press presentation and stated that he was really disappointed to let go of the points in such an easy fashion.
Afghanistan - finally were able to showcase their all-round strength first affecting a middle order collapse owing to maestro Rashid Khan and then chasing the paltry score of 192 runs.
When Bangladesh walked into bat after winning the toss, it did not look like they could get all out for such a small total. Bangladesh were 100/1 at a point with Liton Das anchoring the innings alongside Shakib Al Hasan after the departure of Tamim Iqbal, who is yet to find his footing in the series.
However, in the 22nd over, Shakib chopped a delivery into his stump affecting a collapse. Rashid Khan in his classic middle over antics took over the game and bowled an exceptional 10 overs where he took three wickets for just 37 runs.
Wickets kept tumbling as in form batsmen Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain and Mehidy Hasan were sent packing and Bangladesh were reeling at 175/7 by the 42nd over.
The collapse eventually reached a stage where the Bangladesh were wrapped up in the 47th over, losing their last 9 wickets for less than 100 runs.
Coming into the chase, Afghanistan knew that they just needed to keep their heads calm and see through the tough phases against a bowling attack that has been very good throughout the series.
To be fair to Bangladesh bowlers, they did produce chances, only to see them getting dropped in the outfield. Opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored a century and laid the stone for the victory while Riaz Hassan and Rahmat Shah played their part in supporting him. Afghanistan lost three wickets and patiently chased the score down with 10 overs remaining.
The win might not mean a lot in the context of the ODI series, but Afghanistan certainly would believe that they have cracked the code for this Bangladesh side going into the T20I format. Afghanistan are a force to reckon with in the shortest international format of the game and the conditions might just suit them better in the two-match T20I series.