Stats highlights from Afghanistan’s landmark win against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup, in Fatullah
Shiva Jayaraman01-Mar-2014 This was Afghanistan’s first win in ODIs against a Test nation in what was their fourth ODI against a Test nation. They had played Pakistan twice and Australia once before this. It took Bangladesh 28 ODI matches to win their first ODI against a Test nation. With this defeat, Bangladesh have lost the first ODI they have played against five non-Test sides. In all, they have played nine non-Test nations. UAE, Bermuda, Hong Kong and Scotland are the teams they haven’t lost their first ODIs against. In 1997, they lost their first ODI against Kenya in Nairobi, though they were not a Test-side then. However, Bangladesh lost to Kenya in the 2003 World Cup, which was the first time they were playing Kenya since attaining the Test status in 2000. The other non-Test teams against whom Bangladesh have lost their first ODIs are Ireland, Canada and Netherlands. Bangladesh have now lost six ODIs against a non-Test-playing team since attaining their Test status in November 2000. The last time they lost to such a side before this ODI was against Netherlands in Glasgow in 2010. Overall, they have lost 11 ODIs to non-Test teams. Asghar Stanikzai’s unbeaten 90 in this match was his highest score and his fourth half-century in ODIs. His previous highest was also against a Test nation – he had scored 66 in the only ODI that Afghanistan have played against Australia, in Sharjah in 2012. Stanikzai was playing his 28th ODI, he has scored 631 runs at 28.68. Samiullah Shenwari was run out just one run short of his highest score in ODIs. He had scored 82 against Kenya in Amstelveen in 2010. This was his fourth fifty in ODIs and his first against a Test nation. This was only the second time in ODIs that there were two fifty-plus scores hit by Afghanistan’s middle order (No. 4 to No. 7). The last such instance for them came against Netherlands in Hague in 2010. Stanikzai and Shenwari added 164 runs for the sixth wicket for Afghanistan, which is the highest sixth-wicket partnership in the Asia Cup, beating the 112 runs added by Alok Kapali and Mahmudullah against India in Karachi in 2008. The partnership was Afghanistan’s highest for the sixth wicket in ODIs and their first century partnership for that wicket. Their previous highest partnership for the sixth wicket was 86, between Raees Ahmadzai and Shenwariagainst Scotland in Benoni in 2009. This was also Afghanistan’s third-highest partnership for any wicket and only their sixth hundred partnership in ODIs. Karim Sadiq and Mohammad Shahzad added an unbeaten 218 runs for the second wicket against Scotland in Ayr in 2010, which is their highest partnership for any wicket. Afghanistan’s innings seemed to be going nowhere in the batting Powerplay, with just 14 runs coming off the first four overs. By the 39th over, Afghanistan had meandered to a score of 137 for 5. The last two deliveries of the 40th over, however, were hit for fours by Shenwari, starting a carnage by the Afghanistan batsmen – in the next ten overs they plundered 107 runs. Ironically for Bangladesh, the last two deliveries of the 40th over almost snuffed out whatever hopes they had of winning the game as they lost Naeem Islam and Abdur Razak off them. The 107 runs that Afghanistan scored in the last ten overs of their innings is the highest they have scored in these overs in ODIs, beating the 88 runs that they scored against Scotland in Benoni in 2009. Between the last ball of the 38th over and the first ball of the 40th over, Bangladesh lost four wickets for four runs. This was their worst ever collapse for wicket fifth to eighth in ODIs and their fourth-worst four-wicket collapse in ODIs. Ziaur Rahman raised hopes of a Bangladesh rescue-act with a 41-run cameo. This was the third-fastest innings of 30 or more runs in the Asia Cup. The three sixes hit by Rahman equalled the most by a batsman batting at No. 7 or lower in the Asia Cup. The 40-run partnership between Rahman and Rubel Hossain is the second-highest for the ninth wicket in the Asia Cup. Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan added 46 runs against Sri Lanka in the 2004 Asia Cup final, which is the highest for the ninth wicket.
