Rahmanullah Gurbaz hit a cracking century and Azmatullah Omarzai showed allround skills on Monday to give Afghanistan a five wicket victory over Bangladesh in their third ODI in Sharjah on Monday night.

Omarzai took four wickets before hitting an undefeated 77-ball 70 and opener Gurbaz hit a 120-ball 101 as Afghanistan chased down a 245-run target in 48.2 overs in Sharjah.

The victory gave Afghanistan a 2-1 win in the series in Sharjah. Afghanistan won the first match by 92 runs while Bangladesh took the second by 68 runs.

The series win is Afghanistan's third successive this year, having also beaten Ireland (2-0) and South Africa (2-1) following their wins over England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in last year's World Cup in India.

Gurbaz, who hit seven sixes and five boundaries in his eighth ODI century, fell in the 39th over with 61 needed.

Omarzai hit five sixes and three boundaries and added 58 runs with Mohammad Nabi (27-ball 34) to avoid any turnaround, hitting the winning six.

Speaking after the match, Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi said he was proud of his team.

"I am very happy as a captain," said Shahidi. "When we lost the toss we were a bit worried because it's tough to bat second in Sharjah but our batters did very well."

Bangladesh’s stand-in skipper Mehidy Hasan Miraz praised Afghanistan.

"I think credit goes to Afghanistan the way they played in this series," he said.

"Gurbaz and Omarzai did very well and we couldn't get wickets to win the match."

Omarzai was awarded the Player of the Match for his outstanding all-round performance and managed to grab the award for the first time in international cricket.

The Player of the Series award went to Mohammad Nabi for his heroic all-round performance in the series.

He scored 135 runs at an impressive average of 67.50, including a crucial half-century (84).

Afghanistan National Cricket Team will now be gearing up for their all-format tour to Zimbabwe where they will be meeting the hosts in three T20Is, starting on December 9 in Harare, followed by as many ODIs and a two-match test series in Bulawayo.

Mohammad Nabi's 84 off 79 balls and Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar's six-wicket haul led Afghanistan to a 92-run victory over Bangladesh in Sharjah on Wednesday in the first one-day international of a three-match series.

Chasing a mediocre 236, Bangladesh were bowled out for 143 as they lost their last eight wickets for 23 runs in Sharjah, which became the first venue to host 300 men's international matches.

Afghanistan were reeling at 71-5 before captain Hashmatullah Shahidi (52) and Nabi lifted them to 235 in 49.4 overs.

Bangladesh cruised to 120-2 in the chase led by captain Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mehidy Hasan Miraz, but they collapsed after Nabi broke the partnership.

Sharjah will also host the remaining two matches in the series.

(Reuters)

Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss against Bangladesh in the first ODI in Sharjah on Wednesday afternoon and opted to bat first.

Shahidi said after the toss the reason for choosing to bat first was that “the pitch looks good and the ball moves a bit under lights”.

As the match got underway, Afghanistan handed a debut to left-hand opening batter Sediqullah Atal, with regular opener Ibrahim Zadran ruled out due to an ankle injury.

Atal, however, has played six T20Is already.

Afghanistan enters the series on the back of a 2-1 win against South Africa in September, while Bangladesh are playing their first ODI in eight months.

Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has also included some familiar faces including Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi along with
Fazalhaq Farooqi, Azmatullah Omarzai and Gulbadin Naib.

Afghanistan are coming off a 2-1 win against South Africa, even as Bangladesh are playing their first ODI in eight months

But Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto is leading his squad in the three-match ODI series as they look to bury their misery after being thrashed by South Africa in their two-match Test series last week.

Bangladesh meanwhile sit eight in the ICC ODI team rankings – just ahead of Afghanistan at ninth.

But Afghanistan are on a high in limited overs cricket, having beaten top nations including England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in last year's World Cup held in India.