Saturday 1 October 2016 17:40, UK
England's upcoming One-Day International opponents Bangladesh are facing a nervy wait ahead of the three-match series, starting on Friday, to see if captain Mashrafe Mortaza will be fully fit to play.
The fast bowler went down clutching his ankle early into the second innings of the third ODI against Afghanistan after he slipped in his run up. The right-arm paceman had just dismissed Afghanistan opener Mohammad Shazard but when running in to bowl to new batsman Rahmat Shah he collapsed awkwardly on his back leg.
After a lengthy break, in which Mortaza received medical attention, he got back up and completed the four balls left in the over. However when returning for a second spell he did so from a shorter run-up, leaving coaches and fans concerned alike.
Bangladesh, nonetheless, will be confident going into the clash with England after thrashing Afghanistan by 141 runs in their final encounter, to win their 100th ODI and take the series 2-1.
Tamim Iqbal led the way for the hosts as he set a new record for the most ODI hundreds scored by a Bangladesh batsman after hitting his seventh century in the format: a run-a-ball 118. He was fortunate to reach anywhere near that many, though, having given a simple catch to Asghar Stanikazi when on one, only to see the Afghanistan captain fail to hold onto the chance at mid-on.
From there on, Iqbal went after the bowling, punishing anything not endangering his stumps, as he hit 13 boundaries, including two sixes. Soumya Sarkar departed early but Sabbir Raham stuck around with Iqbal, putting on 140 together, until Rahman was removed by Shah for 65.
Iqbal eventually went, hitting out at Mohammad Nabi, with Bangladesh well-positioned on 212-3 and 11 overs left, however a middle-order collapse meant they slumped to 279-8 from their 50 overs.
There would be no let up from their bowlers, though, who, despite a late fightback by Najibullah Zadran and Rashid Khan, continually picked up wickets, Mosharraf Hossain returning figures of 3-24 in his first game back for Bangladesh in eight years, as Afghanistan were bowled out for 138.
Man of the match and series, Iqbal said: "That's [England series] a big one. The boys are all pumped up and hopefully we can have a good series."
