DHAKA: Opener Tamim Iqbal smashed a brilliant century as Bangladesh crushed Afghanistan by 141 runs in the third one-day international (ODI) to clinch the three-match series 2-1 in Dhaka yesterday.
Tamim helped Bangladesh reach 279-8 with 118 in as many balls, his seventh ODI century – the highest for his country – before the home side dismissed Afghanistan for 138 runs in 33.5 overs in a lopsided contest at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
Left-arm spinner Mosharraf Hossain grabbed 3-24 runs playing his first match in more than eight years while paceman Taskin Ahmed chipped in with 2-31.
This was Bangladesh’s sixth consecutive series victory in ODIs. The winning streak started in November 2014 when they blanked Zimbabwe 5-0 at home.
The purple patch also included three series wins against much fancied Pakistan, India and South Africa. During the period, Bangladesh also reached the World Cup quarter-finals in Australia-New Zealand last year.
The victory in the third ODI was not assured until Bangladesh, who elected to bat first, got a commanding total for the first time in the series, which was otherwise dominated by Afghanistan.
Tamim made the most of a dropped catch early in his innings to give Bangladesh the kind of platform they were looking for, but an unexpected collapse in the middle-order denied them a bigger total.