Bangladesh T20I skipper Shakib Al Hasan credited the start given by the openers in their six-wicket win (by DLS method) over Afghanistan in the second of the two-match T20I series at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Sunday. 

Tigers openers Liton Das and Afif Hossain put on a 67-run stand while chasing Afghanistan's 117, with the former scoring a lion's share of the runs in the partnership.

The duo put on 50 runs in the Powerplay which was set at five overs due to the game being reduced to 17 overs per side after rain interrupted proceedings in the first innings.

Despite the brisk start, however, the Tigers had to suffer hiccups when off-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman dismissed both the openers in the 10th over.

After smashing 50 in the first five, Bangladesh managed to churn out just 20 runs in the next 30 balls.
In the following over, Najmul Hossain Shanto, who scored a six-ball four, played all over a full and straight delivery off pacer Azmatullah Omarzai.

This reduced the Tigers to 76 for the loss of three after 11 overs.

Towhid Hridoy scored a 17-ball 19 but his dismissal to Omarzai in the 15th over made the chase more arduous than it was initially expected to be.

Despite the jitters, Shakib, who took home both the player-of-the-match and the player-of-the–series awards, said that the nerves did not kick in as he believed the start they had, courtesy of the opening stand, had helped to always keep them ahead in the chase.

"No don't think it was nerves. We lost a couple of wickets but given the start we had, we were always ahead," he said in the post-match interview.

The win ensured Bangladesh registered their maiden T20I series win over Afghanistan after they clinched a narrow two-wicket win in the first T20I on Friday.

Shakib came to the crease in the 12th over following the dismissal of Shanto and steered his side to victory with an 11-ball 18-run knock that featured a boundary and a maximum, while Shamim Hossain at the other end hit the winning runs with five balls to spare.