Bangladesh Struggles as Ghazanfar Shines with Six-Wicket Haul

Ghazanfar made an early impact in the game by dismissing Bangladesh’s opener, Tanzid Hasan. Despite this setback, Bangladesh seemed to recover quickly, with Soumya Sarkar and captain Najmul Hossain Shanto building a solid partnership. But Afghanistan’s medium-pacer, Azmatullah Omarzai, broke through by sending Sarkar back to the pavilion. Still, Najmul teamed up with Mehidy Hasan Miraz to push Bangladesh’s chase past the halfway mark.

The momentum shifted in the 26th over when Mohammad Nabi’s smart field placement resulted in Najmul’s dismissal. This opened the floodgates for Ghazanfar, who returned in the 31st over to remove Mehidy. Ghazanfar wasn’t done yet—he picked up three more wickets in his next over, leaving Bangladesh in deep trouble at 138/8.

Rashid Khan added to Bangladesh’s problems with his famous googly, dismissing Mahmudullah. Towhid Hridoy also fell victim to another Rashid googly while attempting a big sweep. In the 35th over, Ghazanfar completed his brilliant spell by taking his sixth wicket with a deceptive carrom ball that bowled Shoriful Islam. Afghanistan secured a dominant 92-run victory.

Earlier in the match, Bangladesh’s bowlers Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman had put Afghanistan under pressure, reducing them to 71/5 in the first 20 overs. But a strong partnership between Afghan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi and veteran Mohammad Nabi helped steady the innings. Nabi played a crucial knock of 84 runs from 79 balls, pushing Afghanistan past 200 before he was dismissed by Taskin.

Ghazanfar’s six-wicket performance was not only a personal best but also the best bowling figures in any Bangladesh-Afghanistan ODI, surpassing Shakib Al Hasan’s 5/29 from 2019. This was only Ghazanfar’s sixth ODI, and he has already taken 10 wickets at an impressive average of 15.40. The young spinner has quickly made a name for himself, having claimed 14 wickets in just 10 List A matches at an average of 22.35, including his first five-wicket haul in this format.