Afghanistan vs Bangladesh, Match 3, Oct 21, 2026: commentary
| Bangladesh | 160 | 41.2 ov |
|---|---|---|
| Afghanistan | 161/3 | 35.3 ov |
Afghanistan win by 7 wickets
Result
Afghanistan win by 7 wickets
What the reporting says
Afghanistan dropped left-arm spinners Sharafuddin Ashraf and Nangeyalia Kharote, kept Qais Ahmad and added Khalil Gurbaz, targeting Bangladesh with wristspin.
Rahmat Shah has taken over as Afghanistan's Test and ODI captain, replacing Hashmatullah Shahidi after the Test loss in India.
Litton Das has made just two runs in his last five innings across formats, with three ducks in three Test innings in Australia.
Towhid Hridoy comes in after an unbeaten 352 for Bangladesh A against South Africa A in Potchefstroom about a month earlier.
The Abu Dhabi pitch has generally been slow, and daytime temperatures could reach almost 40 degrees.
Bangladesh left out Shoriful Islam and played Ebadot Hossain instead in the one-off Test.
Facts taken from the stories linked beside them, each from a sentence in the original.
AFG 1ST
- 35.3
Over 36. 3 runs. Bowler: Al Islam. Afghanistan: 161/3(rr 4.47)
- 35.3
Al Islam to Hashmatullah Shahidi. Off break length ball, off stump on the back foot Late Cut, well timed to third man for 2 runs. Afghanistan have secured another convincing victory to seal their place in the Tri-Series final. Bangladesh, having lost both their matches, are out of contention, leaving Zimbabwe to claim the second spot in the final. Despite a couple of early setbacks courtesy of Taskin Ahmed, Afghanistan batters showed patience and composure. Rahmat Shah anchored the chase with a well-crafted fifty, while valuable contributions from Ibrahim Zadran and Hashmatullah Shahidi guided the team home comfortably.
- 35.2
Al Islam to Rahmat Shah. Off break back of a length, outside off stump on the front foot driving, Played to deep point for 1 run.
- 35.1
Al Islam to Rahmat Shah. Off break back of a length, off stump on the front foot defending, Played to mid wicket for no runs.
- 35.0
Over 35. 2 runs. Bowler: Mehidy Hasan. Afghanistan: 158/3(rr 4.51)
- 34.6
Mehidy Hasan to Hashmatullah Shahidi. Off break length ball, middle stump on the front foot defending, Played to mid wicket for no runs.
- 34.5
Mehidy Hasan to Rahmat Shah. Off break back of a length, outside off stump on the front foot driving, well timed to long on for 1 run.
- 34.4
Mehidy Hasan to Rahmat Shah. Off break back of a length, outside off stump on the front foot defending, Played to mid wicket for no runs.
- 34.3
Mehidy Hasan to Hashmatullah Shahidi. Off break length ball, outside off stump on the back foot driving, Played to deep cover for 1 run, fielded by Tamim.
- 34.2
Mehidy Hasan to Hashmatullah Shahidi. Off break length ball, outside off stump down the track pushing, Played to point for no runs.
- 34.1
Mehidy Hasan to Hashmatullah Shahidi. Off break length ball, outside off stump on the back foot driving, Played to short extra cover for no runs, fielded by Shanto.
- 34.0
Over 34. 3 runs. Bowler: Al Islam. Afghanistan: 156/3(rr 4.59)
- 33.6
Al Islam to Rahmat Shah. Off break length ball, outside off stump on the back foot driving, mis-timed to short extra cover for no runs, fielded by Hridoy.
- 33.5
Al Islam to Rahmat Shah. Carrom length ball, to leg on the back foot working, Played to deep mid wicket for 2 runs, fielded by Islam.
- 33.4
Al Islam to Hashmatullah Shahidi. Carrom length ball, outside off stump down the track driving, Played to mid off for 1 run, mis-fielded by Shanto.
- 33.3
Al Islam to Hashmatullah Shahidi. Carrom length ball, outside off stump on the back foot Steer, Played to short third man for no runs, run save by Ahmed.
- 33.2
Al Islam to Hashmatullah Shahidi. Carrom length ball, outside off stump on the front foot pushing, Played to gully for no runs, fielded by Sarkar.
- 33.1
Al Islam to Hashmatullah Shahidi. Carrom length ball, wide outside off stump on the front foot shoulders arms, Left for no runs, fielded by Emon.
- 33.0
Over 33. 5 runs. Bowler: Mehidy Hasan. Afghanistan: 153/3(rr 4.64)
- 32.6
Mehidy Hasan to Hashmatullah Shahidi. Off break length ball, outside off stump on the back foot driving, Played to deep cover for 1 run, fielded by Hassan.
- 19.6
OUT! Caught. Mustafizur Rahman to Ibrahim Zadran. Off cutter full toss, to leg on the front foot driving, mis-timed in the air uncontrolled to mid on, caught by Shanto. Mustafizur Rahman gets his man!
- 6.6
OUT! Bowled. Taskin Ahmed to Sediqullah Atal. In-swinging length ball, outside off stump on the front foot pushing, missed. That's a peach of a delivery.
- 2.5
OUT! Bowled. Taskin Ahmed to Rahmanullah Gurbaz. Seaming in length ball, outside off stump on the front foot driving, missed. You miss, I hit! The stumps are shattered.
BAN 1ST
- 41.2
Over 42. no runs. Bowler: Rashid Khan. Bangladesh: 160/10(rr 3.81)
- 41.2
OUT! Bowled. Rashid Khan to Mustafizur Rahman. Leg spinner length ball, middle stump on the back foot driving, missed. Bangladesh have been bowled out for 160 on a slow, low pitch in Sharjah. Azmatullah Omarzai and Yamin Ahmadzai struck early, picking up two wickets apiece in the powerplay. The spinners then tightened the screws through the middle overs, preventing Bangladesh from scoring freely. Parvez Hossain Emon battled hard with a top score of 70, but Rashid Khan stole the show with a four-wicket haul. Join us after the break for the chase!
- 41.1
OUT! Caught. Rashid Khan to Al Islam. Leg spinner length ball, outside off stump on the front foot defending, outside edge to first slip, caught by Eisakhil. Nabi rolling back the years with those sharp reflexes.
- 41.0
Over 41. 2 runs. Bowler: Yamin Ahmadzai. Bangladesh: 160/8(rr 3.90)
- 40.6
Yamin Ahmadzai to Al Islam. Slower length ball, off stump on the front foot working, hit pad to fine leg for 1 run, fielded by Omarzai.
- 40.5
Yamin Ahmadzai to Al Islam. Reverse Swing-In length ball, outside off stump on the front foot driving, Played to point for no runs, shy attempt by Zadran, fielded by Eisakhil.
- 40.4
Yamin Ahmadzai to Al Islam. Length ball, outside off stump on the front foot pushing, Played to short extra cover for no runs, fielded by Zurmatai.
- 40.3
Yamin Ahmadzai to Al Islam. Length ball, outside off stump on the front foot driving, Played to cover for no runs, fielded by Zadran.
- 40.2
Yamin Ahmadzai to Taskin Ahmed. Length ball, outside off stump on the front foot driving, mis-timed in the air uncontrolled to long off for 1 run, fielded by Shahidi.
- 40.1
Yamin Ahmadzai to Taskin Ahmed. Length ball, outside off stump on the back foot defending, Played to short extra cover for no runs, fielded by Shahidi.
- 40.0
Over 40. 2 runs. Bowler: Rashid Khan. Bangladesh: 158/8(rr 3.95)
- 39.6
Rashid Khan to Taskin Ahmed. Leg spinner length ball, wide outside off stump on the back foot pushing, Played to point for 1 run, fielded by Shahidi.
- 39.5
Rashid Khan to Taskin Ahmed. Googly length ball, outside off stump on the front foot defending, Played to short extra cover for no runs, fielded by Shahidi.
- 39.4
Rashid Khan to Taskin Ahmed. Googly length ball, to leg on the front foot defending, Played to silly mid off for no runs.
- 39.4
Wide Rashid Khan to Taskin Ahmed. Leg spinner length ball, down leg side on the back foot shoulders arms, Left to leg gully for 1 run, mis-fielded by Gurbaz, fielded by Eisakhil.
- 39.3
Rashid Khan to Taskin Ahmed. Leg spinner half volley, middle stump on the front foot defending, inside edge to short mid wicket for no runs, fielded by Zurmatai.
- 39.2
OUT! L.B.W. Rashid Khan to Parvez Hossain Emon. Leg spinner length ball, off stump on the front foot defending, hit pad. Trapped right in front, and the finger goes up.
- 39.1
Rashid Khan to Parvez Hossain Emon. Googly length ball, to leg on the front foot driving, inside edge to long on for no runs, fielded by Omarzai.
- 39.0
Over 39. 9 runs. Bowler: Mohammad Nabi. Bangladesh: 156/7(rr 4.00)
- 38.6
Mohammad Nabi to Parvez Hossain Emon. Off break length ball, outside off stump on the front foot sweeping, Played to deep backward square leg for 1 run, run save by Atal.
- 37.3
OUT! Bowled. Rashid Khan to Shoriful Islam. Leg spinner length ball, middle stump on the back foot driving, missed. Castle breached! The stumps are in disarray.
- 32.5
OUT! Caught (Sub). Bilal Sami to Mehidy Hasan. Short, outside off stump on the back foot hooking, top edge in the air uncontrolled to fine leg. Mehidy loses his patience and holes out.
- 31.3
OUT! Caught (Sub). Mohammad Nabi to Saif Hassan. Off break length ball, outside off stump down the track Slog, mis-timed to mid off. A long-standing partnership comes to an end.
- 6.6
OUT! Caught & Bowled. Azmatullah Omarzai to Tawhid Hridoy. In-swinging length ball, off stump on the front foot working, leading edge back to bowler, caught by Omarzai. Another one bites the dust! Afghanistan tighten their grip.
- 6.4
OUT! Caught. Azmatullah Omarzai to Najmul Hossain Shanto. Out-swinging length ball, outside off stump on the front foot pushing, outside edge, caught by Gurbaz. Omarzai joins the wicket-taking spree.
- 1.3
OUT! Bowled. Yamin Ahmadzai to Soumya Sarkar. Out-swinging length ball, off stump on the front foot driving, inside edge. Chopped on!
- 1.2
OUT! Caught. Yamin Ahmadzai to Tanzid Hasan. In-swinging length ball, off stump on the front foot pushing, outside edge, caught by Gurbaz. Yamin strikes early.