Bangladesh won the toss in the first T20I of the two-match series in Sylhet and elected to field first. They made early inroads as the first four Afghanistan wickets fell for 52 runs to four different Bangladesh bowlers.

Mohammad Nabi then resurrected the Afghan innings at No.5, scoring an unbeaten 40-ball 54. He was supported by Najibullah Zadran and Azmatullah Omarzai as the visitors managed to cross 150 and ended with 154-7 from their 20 overs.

Bangladesh got off to a similar start as Afghanistan, as they were reduced to 64-4 in the 11th over. Towhid Hridoy then took control of the chase and was ably supported by Shamim Hossain, who scored 33 off 25 batting at No.6.

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It came down to six needed off the last over. Afghanistan had the option to go with Omarzai, Nabi, Fareed Khan, or Janat. They decided to give Janat the ball.

The first ball was smashed through wide of long off for four by Mehidy Hasan bringing the equation down to two off five balls. Bangladesh should ideally have cruised to victory from that position, but they didn’t. In fact, the next three balls resulted in three wickets, each dismissal coming off a short ball as the Bangladesh batters tried to go for the glory shot one by one and hit the fielders instead.

With two required from two, and eight wickets down, the hosts were suddenly in a spot of bother. But Shoriful Islam, the left-arm seamer who had a poor outing with the ball, conceding 30 runs off his three overs for one wicket in the first innings, came out at No.10 and cut a short and wide ball perfectly past point for four to hand the hosts a thrilling two-wicket victory.

Watch Janat take a hat-trick and concede boundaries either side of it as Bangladesh edge out Afghanistan in a thriller:

For viewers in India:

This over had more drama than a daily soap 🎢 pic.twitter.com/jxM2zt1CfP

— FanCode (@FanCode) July 14, 2023

For viewers outside India: