Bangladesh vs Afghanistan, 3rd ODI at Sharjah, AFG v BAN, Nov 11 2024 - Match Result

10:30pm Shahidi accepts the trophy from the dignitaries and then goes over to his teammates to celebrate. Afghanistan are a picture of joy and they look like a team that knows it can ruffle feathers whenever and wherever it plays. And on that note, our coverage for the series also comes to an end. We hope you enjoyed it just as much as we loved bringing it to you. Lots of cricket lined up elsewhere and you can stay updated with all of it on ESPNcricinfo. Until next time, from Himanshu, Thilak, Vairavan and myself, this is goodbye!

Mohammad Nabi, Player of the Series: In my mind, from last World Cup, I was retired but then we qualified for the Champions Trophy and I felt if I can play that, it will be great. (On his role) Small contributions from my side for the youngsters will be great insight. Most of the time, I will speak with Ghazanfar, Kharote on what speeds to bowl and that helps a lot. In the last season, I did not do well with the bat. But I worked harder before the series and it was my target to perform in this series (with the bat). Great to perform for my team. Spoke to Omarzai about just taking singles. Wicket was easy and ball was coming on. So, (was speaking about) watching the ball, playing straight and that the boundaries will come.

Azmatullah Omarzai, Player of the Match: (What was going through his mind when batting) I want to thank the almighty. It was tough for me after two bad games. I was positive and was trying to hit the ball where I wanted to hit. Gurbaz was there, so I was confident. Even if I miss a few balls, I did not care because he could cover (for me) anytime. Whenever I got loose balls, I tried to (score boundaries). (On his bowling) The wicket was slow, the ball was sticking. So, I tried to use my variations. I was speaking to Rashid and he told me to bowl a mix of deliveries. (On bowling at the death) It was tough for me, because I have never bowled in the last few overs. It means a lot (to win this award). It is my first POTM award in ODIs and I am really happy.

Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afghanistan captain: Very happy as a captain. The way my team performed, proud of the team. When we lost the toss, it was a little disappointing. If you see the behaviour of the pitch in the second innings, batting is difficult. But the way our boys took responsibility, and the way Gurbaz, Omarzai and Nabi did, I am really proud of them. (On Gurbaz's hundred) I think he is the match-winner player. Whenever he scores runs, he did a lot for our team. Very happy for him. He is very talented and hopefully he can take that momentum to the next series and also the Champions Trophy. (On three consecutive ODI series wins) The way we are playing right now is very good. If you see, everyone is performing in every game. Different guys performing and that is good for the team. We will try our best to make our team stronger. We have Zimbabwe next and that is our next target and we want to go with good momentum to the Champions Trophy.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Bangladesh captain: It was a tough job. The boys played really well, especially the partnership between Mahmudullah and me. We saw in the last two matches that the wicket was spinning and that is why we wanted to bat (first). Some dew is coming (tonight), so ball is coming too easy. Credit goes to them, they played really well, especially Gurbaz and Omarzai. We did not take wickets in the middle overs. (On Nahid Rana) He is playing well.

10:11pm Stick around, folks. We should hear from the captains, the Player of the Match and the Player of the Series soon.

Azweer : "So proud of you Afghanistan... Congratulations..."

10:03pm Wow, a tense and nervy game of cricket. It ebbed one way, then threatened to flow the other. But all things considered, Afghanistan probably had things under control from the moment Gurbaz and Omarzai got together. The former managed his eighth ODI hundred and set the foundation for the run-chase before Omarzai, under immense pressure, kept his calm and sealed the deal. A word of appreciation for Nabi too, who used every bit of his experience to outfox Bangladesh and find the fence whenever his team needed and wanted him to.

Bangladesh gave it their all, and them losing this game was probably not for a lack of effort. Rana, on debut, bowled his heart out and had the Afghanistan batters hopping around on what was not a very fast surface. Nasum was quite economical too, but they were probably left ruing Shoriful's inability to keep things as tight, with Mustafizur and Mehidy also conceding more runs than they would have liked. And if you go a little further back, they might look at how many they scored and if they could have gone a little quicker a little earlier in their batting innings.

This result means that Afghanistan have now won three ODI series in a row. Bangladesh still have work to do before the Champions Trophy rolls in early next year but this series will have given them enough to cling on to, and enough to take confidence from.

Six needed off the last two overs. Shoriful to bowl

Afghanistan one hit away now

16 off 18. Less than run-a-ball needed. Very much Afghanistan's game to lose now

Right. Here's Rana. Can he break this game open one final time? 26 off 24

Bhaskar: "Great to see a nervy chase like this, make you feel like the 90's."

33 off 30. Situation still under control from an Afghanistan POV. Mustafizur has three left, though, and he will bowl one of them now