Shoriful Islam to Sediqullah Atal, On middle. Fuller. This is clipped wide of mid on for one.
Shoriful Islam to Sediqullah Atal, Nice shape! Lovely nut! Length and around off. This one shapes away. Atal looks to defend but is beaten.
Shoriful Islam to Sediqullah Atal, On a length and around off. Atal gets right behind the line and defends.
Taskin Ahmed to Rahmat Shah, A dot to end an impressive first over from Taskin! Hard-length delivery and around middle, Rahmat Shah stays watchful and just blocks it off.
Rahmat Shah walks in at number 3.
Taskin Ahmed to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, OUT! EDGED AND GONE! Taskin Ahmed draws first blood and Rahmanullah Gurbaz has to depart early. Taskin pitches the ball a bit further up and wide of the off stump line, Gurbaz is lazy to get his feet across and just reaches out for the drive. The ball nips away and catches the outside edge, going down to the right of the keeper. Mushfiqur Rahim dives across and pouches it nicely and Afghanistan are 7 for 1 inside the first 2 overs.
Taskin Ahmed to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Good length again, around the top of off and angling back in, Gurbaz gets across a bit and blocks it straight down the pitch.
Taskin Ahmed to Sediqullah Atal, On a good length and aimed at the stumps, just tailing back in a bit, Atal looks to fetch and flick it across the line but gets an inside edge towards backward square leg for a single.
Taskin Ahmed to Sediqullah Atal, Just a smidge fuller and in the channel around off, Sediqullah Atal opts to hang back and is a bit late as he has to jam his bat down and the ball goes away towards first slip.
Taskin Ahmed to Sediqullah Atal, Steams in from over the stumps and hits the deck hard, bowling it around the leg pole, Atal gets a bit squared up but manages to block it down on the off side.
Uh, oh! Early trouble here for Rahmanullah Gurbaz and he seems to have pulled his hamstring here. Gurbaz seems in some discomfort and the physio is out to have a look. Hopefully, he is fine and can continue here. The positive news is that Gurbaz is back on his feet and the physio is heading back and the Afghan opener will continue. Also, it will be Taskin Ahmed to take the other new ball.
Shoriful Islam to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, FOUR! Too and wide and Gurbaz ends the first over with a boundary. Shoriful drops it short and angles it well wide of the off stump, Gurbaz just reaches out and taps the ball into the gap between point and covers and the ball rolls away into the fence.
Shoriful Islam to Sediqullah Atal, Sediqullah Atal is straightaway off the mark in international cricket! Just back of a length over middle, Atal stays compact and jabs the ball down in front of mid-wicket for a quick single.
Shoriful Islam to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Gurbaz and Afghanistan are underway! Shoriful goes full and straight, gets the ball to swing back in as well, Gurbaz looks to drive straight but gets it off the inner half of the bat wide of mid on for a quick single.
Shoriful Islam to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Drags the length back now and bowls it around middle and leg stump, angling it away, Gurbaz hops onto the back foot and blocks it down in front of covers.
Shoriful Islam to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Pitches the ball up again, a bit wide of the off stump, Gurbaz takes a couple of steps in front and plays it on the up but straight to mid off.
Shoriful Islam to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Right on the money! Starts from over the wicket and pitches the ball up around off stump, looking for that inswing, Rahmanullah Gurbaz covers the line well and blocks it off.
Done and dusted with the pre-match proceedings and it is now time to get the 300th international game at Sharjah underway! The umpires are out in the middle and the players of Bangladesh are spreading out on the field. It will be the debutant Sediqullah Atal to open the innings along with Rahmanullah Gurbaz for Afghanistan. Shoriful Islam has the new ball in hand and is raring to go. Let's play...
We are just a few minutes away from the start of the match but first, the two sets of players will lineup for their respective national anthems. It will be the national anthem of Bangladesh first followed by that of Afghanistan.
PITCH REPORT - Brian Murgatroyd is pitchside and he says that there is a breeze blowing from West to East and the straight boundaries are long with about 75 meters. Ramiz Raja says that nothing much has changed in Sharjah with regards to the surface in the last 40 years and it is a placid track.
Najmul Hossain Shanto, the skipper of Bangladesh says that the boys are feeling good and ready to go and mentions that it is more about focusing on what they can do best rather than focusing on the opposition. Adds that they have a good batting lineup and Rishad Hossain is someone who has come into the ODI setup after impressing in the T20 World Cup.
Hashmatullah Shahidi, the captain of Afghanistan says that they will bat first. The reason for that is the pitch looks good and the ball moves a bit under lights. Adds that Sediqullah Atal is all set to make his debut and have plenty of options in the bowling attack.
Bangladesh (Playing XI) - Najmul Hossain Shanto (C), Tanzid Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim (WK), Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam.
Afghanistan (Playing XI) - Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Sediqullah Atal (On debut), Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar, Nangeyalia Kharote, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
TOSS - Afghanistan have won the toss and they will BAT first.