Afghanistan Beat Bangladesh in Opening T20

DEHRADUN: Big day for Afghanistan they begin their historic tour to India with an emphatic win over Bangladesh by 45 runs in the first Twenty20 at  Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Dehradun.

With this win, Bangladesh have gone one up in the three-match series with next game scheduled for tomorrow at the same venue.

Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim won the toss and opted to field first on a wicket that had been never tested before. 

The way Afghanistan performed tonight against Bangladesh tells a lot about their preparations for this tour. 

Batting first on a tricky pitch, Afghans started cautiously but lost the momentum after back to back wickets in the middle overs. However, Mohammad Shehzad (40) and Samiullah Shenwari (36) provided their bowlers with a fighting total of 168/8 on the board to defend. 

Afghanistan's spin attack did the rest with Rashid Khan (3-13-3) and Mohammad Nabi (4-21-2) dismantled Bangladesh. Shapoor Zadran also took three wickets for 41 runs in his 4 overs. 

No Bangladeshi batsman other than Liton Das (30) and Mahmudullah (29) could score more than 20 runs as the whole team was bundled out for just 122 runs in 19 overs, giving Afghanistan a thumping 45-run win. It's a big thing in T20s.

Young leggie Rashid Khan was picked Man of the Match for his match-winning performance both with the ball and in the field.