Rashid Khan stars as Afghanistan beat Tigers in first T20

Rashid Khan took three wickets as Afghanistan drew first blood in the three-match T20I series against Bangladesh, winning by a comfortable margin of 45 runs in Dehradun, India.

After the Tigers had elected to field after winning the toss, Afghanistan posted a total of 167/8 in their 20 overs thanks mainly to opener Mohammad Shahzad who struck 40 off 37 balls.

Samiullah Shenwari contributed 36 batting at number six while their were important scores from Usman Ghani (26), captain Asghar Stanikzai (25) and Shafiqullah (24).

Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan was the best performer with the ball for his team, finishing with figures of 1-19 in his four overs.

The Tigers’ run-chase got off to the worst possible start as opener Tamim Iqbal was out to the very ball of the innings to spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

Mohammad Nabi then got rid of Shakib (15) and Liton Das (30) before Rashid struck three times to swing the game in favour of his side.

The Afghanistan leg-spinner took the scalps of Mushfiqur Rahim (20), Sabbir Rahman (0) and Mosaddek Hossain (14) to break the back of Bangladesh’s batting line-up.

The Tigers were eventually all out for 122 after 19 overs as left-arm seamer Shapoor Zadran came back into the attack to take three wickets of his own.

Rashid ended with figures of 3-13 in his four overs while Shapoor took 3-40 in four overs and Nabi 2-21 to take their side to victory.

The second match of the series takes place at the same Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.