[caption id="attachment_841" align="alignleft" width="496"] Shamim and Hridoy added 73 off just 43 balls © AFP[/caption] The opening edition of the two-match T20 series against Afghanistan looked all but gone for the hosts when Shamim Hossain left the field to join Towhid Hridoy. However, the duo had different plans. Shakib left the game after scoring just 19 runs, but the manner he attempted to accelerate before being caught trying to slash a pitch undoubtedly affected the thinking of the other two batters, who just looked to keep up the momentum. Chasing a modest target of 155 runs, Bangladesh were left struggling at 64-4 in the 11th over but what followed later was nothing short of a scintillating chase by the home side, that too against one of the best bowling attacks in the world at present. The duo shared 73 runs between them to script the memorable win in front of the house-full Sylhet Stadium, which hosted a T20I match after a gap of five years. Since the morning there were occasional drizzles in the Sylhet city but that hardly mattered for fans as they defied all odds to make sure they are present on the occasion that was made a memorable one by Hridoy and Shamim. Both looked focused on following one mantra that their captain Shakib revealed ahead of the game- they are not thinking too much about any particular name. Hridoy (47 not out) and Shamim (33 off 25 balls) put up the match winning fifth wicket partnership to brought the hosts back in the contest, though there were lot of drama in the last over courtesy, Karim Janat hat-trick.

"I was normal and confident all the time as we just needed two runs," Hridoy told reporters while explaining what was going through his mind when he was watching wicket fall one after another in the last over.

"I just told Shoriful that if he cannot hit the ball at least he should run," he said. The left-arm pacer did not disappoint Hridoy as he scored the winning run but if he hadn't, the whole scenario could have been different and that wouldn't have come as a shock, given the several examples of Bangladesh losing close matches in the past. The way the duo batted also showcased their maturity levels as they took calculative risks, picking up their bowlers like picking 21 runs in the 13th over of the game but what really give them the boost was when they took on Fazalhaq Farooqui in the 17th over, picking up 16 runs that included an authoritative pull from Hridoy for six followed by an excellent improvisation from Shamim, who went well across the stumps for a paddle-pull against a slower ball that was pitched outside off. Hridoy said that he just wanted to make sure they don't lose the opportunity by getting too excited or by panicking.

"I just told Shamim (when he came to bat) that we have won these kind of matches a lot in the domestic cricket. Because we play in the middle order we have faced such situation a lot. If we can bring the momentum in one or two overs the match will shift and we managed to do that because the momentum changed with those two overs( Azmatullah and Farooqi)," said Hridoy.

We had a plan that they are one of the best spin attack and scoring runs against them is difficult. Still we tried to take calculative risk and tried to execute it well "I think in international cricket every match is challenging and every opponent have their own strength and we just tried to execute our plans," he said. "We just wanted to be positive and kept one thing in mind that we will play according to the situation," he added. The duo certainly did that to help the host take 1-0 lead in the T20I series but more importantly kept their momentum in the shortest format in the right direction following their maiden series win over world champions England. Bangladesh now have a big chance of clinching their maiden T20 series victory over Afghanistan when they face the touring side in the second and last game of the series at the same venue on Sunday and if they can achieve it that will surely be a moment to cherish for the host and their die-hard fans.