Bangladesh eventually won by two wickets but not before some late drama against Afghanistan in the first of two Twenty20 internationals in Sylhet Friday.
Chasing 155, the Tigers were well on their way to victory and thus taking a 1-0 lead after a fine 73-run stand for the fifth wicket between Towhid Hridoy and Shamim Hossain.
The young batting duo resurrected the hosts' chase after the departure of captain Shakib al Hasan (19) following a brief 17-minute break owing to rain interruption.
Prior to the rain interval, the home side had lost their top-order as Liton Das (18), Rony Talukdar (four) and Nazmul Hossain Shanto (14) made their way back to the dressing room in the face of some disciplined bowling by the Afghans.
Hridoy and Shamim then went about their free-wheeling run-scoring ways.
Hridoy was unbeaten on a career-best 32-ball 47, laced with three fours and a couple of sixes, while Shamim departed for a well-made 25-ball 33, featuring four boundaries.
However, Karim Janat (3/15) then turned the match on its head by taking a hat-trick, dismissing Mehedi Hasan Miraz (eight), Taskin Ahmed and Nasum Ahmed (both nought) off successive deliveries.
No 10 batter Shoriful Islam (four not out) though kept his nerve and struck the winning boundary with one ball to spare to spark wild celebrations in the stadium.
"We had the belief, all our tail-enders can bat. It was Shoriful's turn today but Miraz could have finished it," said Shakib.
Rashid Khan, the Afghanistan skipper, lamented his side's inability to defend their total.
"With the bowling unit we have, that total was enough but in T20 one innings can take away the game from you," he said.
Earlier, Mohammad Nabi struck his fifth T20I half century to propel Afghanistan to a fighting total of 154.
Coupled with Azmatullah Omarzai's 18-ball 33, the Afghans went past the 150-run mark for the loss of seven wickets after some lackluster Tigers bowling in the death overs.
Tigers bowlers had kept a tight lid on proceedings as Afghanistan posted 101 losing five wickets by the end of the 16th over but then Nabi and Omarzai wrecked havoc with the 17th, 18th and 19th over all fetching 14 runs each.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (16) was the only batter among the top four to score in double digit as Hazratullah Zazai (eight), Ibrahim Zadran (eight) and Janat (three) all departed in quick succession.
But then Nabi and Omarzai steadied the ship with their 56-run stand for the sixth wicket.
Nabi was not out on a 40-ball 54, studded with half a dozen fours and one six, while Omarzai hammered four maximums in his impactful knock.
Shakib, who had won the toss and decided to field first, was the pick of the Bangladesh bowlers with his 2/27 from four overs.
After winning the lone Test match by a record 546 runs, the Tigers lost the three-game One Day International series 2-1 and will now be looking to clinch the series in the shortest format in the final phase of the Afghans' visit.
The second and final T20I will be held Sunday at the same venue.
1ST T20I
Afghanistan 154/7 (Nabi 54*, Shakib 2/27) lost to Bangladesh 157/8 in 19.5 overs (Hridoy 47*, Janat 3/15) by two wickets
Bangladesh XI: Liton Das (wk), Rony Talukdar, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Shakib al Hasan (capt), Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Nasum Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman
Afghanistan XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan (capt), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fareed Ahmad, Azmatullah Omarzai, Fazalhaq Farooqi
