Bangladesh batters Afif Hossain and Mehedi Hasan Miraz had only one ambition – to not give their wicket away – during their herculean effort Wednesday to guide the hosts to an emphatic four-wicket win against Afghanistan in the first ODI.
Chasing 216 runs after losing the toss in Chittagong's Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, hosts Bangladesh were in dire straits losing six wickets with just 45 runs on the board in 11.2 overs.
From there on Afif and Miraz accomplished the seemingly impossible goal as the duo remained unbeaten on 93 and 81 runs respectively and take Bangladesh to shore with a record unbroken 174 runs for the seventh wicket.
Bangladesh were put on the backfoot by left-arm pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi who first removed openers Tamim Iqbal and Liton Das in one over and then made another double blow this time in Mushfiqur Rahim and debutant Yasir Ali.
Bangladesh lost two more wickets – Shakib al Hasan to Mujeeb ur Rahman and then Mahmudullah to Rashid Khan to reel on 45 for six and bring Afif and Miraz to the middle.
“After losing six wickets – we had only one aim – to not give away our wickets. We batted the whole time with this ambition,” said Afif at the post match media session.
Afif and Miraz with the effort registered history.
The 174-run stand is the highest for seventh wicket partnership for Bangladesh and also the eighth highest by runs for the country.
The task was pulled off against a lethal Afghanistan spin bowling attack comprising Rashid, Mujeeb and Mohammad Nabi.
“Speaking on targeting any particular bowler, the whole time we tried to play normal against their three spinners. Finishing their overs would get us the last five overs and we could go for those if the situation was that we needed say around 30 for 40 runs more. We simply tried to not give our wickets to their spinners,” Afif explained.
“It is always a matter of pride when you perform well for the country. We always try to do that. Some days we succeed and on some days we fail. It was a good opportunity for us to contribute for the team, we often do not get much to do. We got the opportunity and thankfully we have been able to achieve it,” the left-handed batsman added.
Miraz on the other hand, while speaking at the presentation ceremony after receiving the Player of the Match award, informed that he was confident that he along with Afif can win the game for Bangladesh.
“I was confident to be honest. I spoke to Afif while in the middle that this is one game we together can win for the country. Being confident and having the belief was the key. There is nothing humans cannot achieve; we only need the belief. We had that and the crowd in the stands supported us,” said Miraz.