Abu Dhabi - 09, October 2025: AfghanAtalan have put on a clinical performance to beat Bangladesh in the first ODI match and take a 1-0 lead in the Etisalat Cup three-match ODI series.
Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bat first, but
AfghanAtalan managed to bowl well and bundled the opposition out for 221 runs
in the first inning. Rashid Khan returned with excellent figures of 3/38 out of
his 10 overs, and completed 200 ODI wickets in the process.
Alongside him, Azmatullah Omarzai (3/40), AM Ghazanfar (2/55), and Nangyal Kharoti (1/32) chipped in with important breakthroughs as they helped
the team to reduce Bangladesh to an under-par total.
AfghanAtalan got off to an incredible start with the bat, and the openers shared 52 runs between them. Rahmanullah Gurbaz (50), playing in his 50th ODI match, and Rahmat Shah (50) scored half-centuries and brought up their 7th and 32nd ODI half-centuries, respectively.
Rahmat Shah reached the milestone of 4000 ODI runs as well
and became the first Afghan player to reach there. The skipper Hashmatullah
Shahidi (33*) and Azmatullah Omarzai (40) put on a fantastic stand and took the
team home by 5 wickets.
Azmatullah Omarzai 3/40 & 40 (44), stepped up with both
bat and ball and was adjudged as the Player of the Match in the first match of
the Etisalat Cup ODI series. Rashid Khan, for his game-changing 3/38, was
awarded as the Game Changer of the match.
The first ODI was also special for Hashmatullah Shahidi,
as he completed 50 ODI matches as the skipper of Afghanistan and became the 2nd
captain after Asghar Afghan to lead Afghanistan in 50 ODI matches.
The second match of the ODI series will be played on
Saturday, October 11 at the same venue.