BAN vs AFG: Bangladesh involved in another final-over drama as Karim Janat picks hat-trick while defending six

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Hosts Bangladesh were involved in another final over drama after Afghanistan pacer Karim Janat picked a hat-trick in the 20th over of the first T20I in Sylhet.

A match which should easily have been won by Bangladesh went down to the wire after Janat dismissed Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed and Nasum Ahmed on the second, third and fourth ball of the 20th over.

Towhid Hridoy (47* off 32) hit a boundary on the first delivery to bring the equation down to 2 off 5 before Janat turned the match on its head.

From 149/5 at the end of 19 overs, Bangladesh's scorecard suddenly read 153/8 in 19.4 overs. Now two runs were needed off two balls with two wickets in hand.

To give thousands of fans present at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium and the tensed Bangladesh camp a major sigh of relief, Shoriful Islam smashed a boundary through point on the penultimate delivery to hand his team a thrilling two-wicket win with a ball to spare.

Bangladesh had asked Afghanistan to bat first after winning the toss in the match. The visitors managed to score 154/7 in 20 overs after an unbeaten fifty from Mohammad Nabi (54 off 40) and quickfire 33 off 18 from Azmatullah Omarzai.

Notably, Afghanistan have won the preceding three-match ODI series 2-1 under the captaincy of Hashmatullah Shahidi. Having already lost the first T20I, the Rashid Khan-led side will have to win the second and final T20I on Sunday, July 16 to salvage a draw.