Bangladesh v Afghanistan, 2nd ODI (Plays of the day)

Mosaddek in, Imrul outBangladesh made a tricky decision of dropping Imrul Kayes and giving the chance to rookie Mosaddek Hossain. While Mosaddek proved his credentials with a vital knock, it was Imrul who proved to be the unlucky one as he had scored 37 runs in the first ODI. The decision however, was based on the pitch, conditions and team combination.Soumya’s outrageous shot to get outOpening batsman Soumya Sarkar has been struggling with the bat for quite a long time now. The talented left-hander was under pressure after being dismissed for nought in the first ODI. However, he started well yesterday with some confident shots. But eventually, he got out in what looked like an unimpressive shot.Uncharacteristic SabbirThe 24-year old Sabbir Rahman is often considered a Twenty20 specialist for Bangladesh due to his healthy strike-rate in the international arena. But he was surprisingly slow yesterday. When he came out to bat, Bangladesh were struggling at 122 for 4. Generally, Sabbir rotates the strike in these kind of situations but yesterday he was struggling against the Afghan spinners and failed to take ones and twos. He scored only four runs facing 16 deliveries. He went on to lost his wicket in a crucial moment in the 32nd over when Bangladesh were on 138.Rashid's hattrick momentThe Afghan leg-spinner impressed yet again yesterday. He took back-to-back wickets in the 43rd over, removing Taijul Islam and Taskin Ahmed respectively. Then came the Tigers' No 11 Rubel Hossain. Rashid bowled his best weapon, the googly, but Rubel was equally good with a forward defence. And thus, Rashid’s chance of becoming the first ever Afghan bowler to claim a hattrick in ODIs disappeared.Shahzad’s humongous sixAfghanistan opener Mohammad Shahzad made his reputation as a clean striker of the ball in recent months. He played some brilliant innings in the 2016 World T20 against some big teams. The right-handed Afghan power-hitter scored 31 off 21 balls in the first ODI and chipped in with 35 yesterday. During his run-a-ball innings, he hit three consecutive boundaries against Taskin, and smashed two sixes. The second of his two sixes against Taijul was a humongous one. The ball landed in the fourth floor of the gallery in front of the VIP stand.Shakib’s ripperShakib al Hasan bowled almost a near perfect delivery to Mohammad Nabi in the 16th over. It drifted in, turned and jumped just past the outside edge. And it was very close to the off-stump as well. Nabi was clueless. It was a gem of a delivery for a batsman who just came into the crease. Shakib could barely believe his luck and even sported a smile.