The visiting Afghanistan have set a 216-run target for Bangladesh in the three-match ODI series opener at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram on Wednesday.

Earlier, Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss and elected to bat first. 

They, however, have lost all wickets to score 215 runs in 49.1 overs.

Najibullah Zadran earned the highest 67 runs off 84 balls while Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi scored 34 and 28 runs respectively.

Mustafizur Rahman bagged three wickets while Taskin Ahmed, Shakib Al Hasan and Shoriful Islam picked up two wickets each.    

The match that started at 11:00am is being aired live on GTV and T Sports.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh handed the ODI cap to middle-order batter Yasir Ali.

The result of the series against Afghanistan will tell whether Bangladesh’s remaining journey to the World Cup will either be smooth or patchy.

Afghanistan squad: 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Ibrahim Zadran, 3 Rahmat Shah, 4 Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), 5 Najibullah Zadran, 6 Gulbadin Naib, 7 Mohammad Nabi, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 10 Yamin Ahmadzai, 11 Fazalhaq Farooqi

Bangladesh squad: 1 Litton Das, 2 Tamim Iqbal (c), 3 Shakib Al Hasan, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Yasir Ali, 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Afif Hossain, 8 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 9 Shoriful Islam, 10 Taskin Ahmed, 11 Mustafizur Rahman

BDST: 1447 HRS, FEB 23, 2022
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