Soon after Rahmanullah Gurbaz smashed the stumps, Mahmudullah Riyad's eyes began to dazzle. Many may have understood the reason for his teary eyes. He could not make the fifth century of ODI career for only 2 runs. However, Mahmudullah's innings has impressed Bangladesh's head coach Phil Simmons.
0,1,2,3—these were Mahmudullah's scores in the last four ODIs ahead of the series decider against Afghanistan in Sharjah yesterday. Criticisms about him who scored in double figures, who forgot, continued to be regularly 'trolled' on social media. He was repeatedly getting into trouble while batting in the third ODI against the Afghans in the scorching heat of Sharjah. However, this 39-year-old batsman scored 98 runs off 98 balls. Where he has run 52 runs. He took 46 runs from the boundary (7 fours and 3 sixes).
Simmons praised Mahmudullah even though Bangladesh lost by 5 wickets in the series deciding match. At the press conference after the match, the head coach of Bangladesh said, 'Great innings. He did not get a run in the first two matches. But today (yesterday) one end has been played. He picked up runs quite easily after settling down. I think it was a great innings.'
Mehdi Hasan Miraj, the new captain of Bangladesh, won the toss and decided to bat yesterday in Sharjah. Bangladesh's score became 72 runs for 4 wickets in 14.4 overs, disorientated by the aggressive bowling of the Afghans. Mahmudullah and Miraj became the saviors of the party in such a situation. They (Mahmudullah-Miraj) made a pair of 145 runs in 188 balls for the fifth wicket. Basically Bangladesh can score 250 (244 runs for 8 wickets). Regarding the pair of Mahmudullah-Miraj, Simmons said, 'Their (Mahmudullah-Miraj) pair has been good. It was doing well in the beginning. The wicket settled down. This happens a lot when pairing up. While he (Miraj) was playing at a slower pace, Mahmudullah hit and played.'
After Mahmudullah, Bangladesh's second highest run scorer yesterday is Miraj. Mirage scored 66 runs off 119 balls. Killed 4 fours. Chasing 245 runs, Afghanistan's opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz took the eighth century of his ODI career. He got three lives on his way to playing an innings of 101 runs off 120 balls with 5 fours and 7 sixes. In the end, the Afghans won by 5 wickets with 10 balls in hand.
