Bangladesh vs Afghanistan 2nd ODI Prediction

If AFG Bat First

Predicted Score: Around 260

Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi had a great game on Sunday with both scoring in 70s while Mohammad Shahzad and Mohammad Nabi scored in 30s each. Once again, the onus will be on these four to take Afghanistan to 260 and beyond. Mohammad Shahzad has got runs for his side on a consistent basis while Nabi is their highest run-scorer in 50-overs cricket. We feel that either could top-score in this match.

Mashrafe Mortaza, Taskin Ahmed and Shakib Al Hasan bowled Bangladesh to victory in the last match. The trio shared eight wickets between them and they should be backed again to pick up the lion's share of the wickets to fall during Afghanistan's innings. Shakib was a real miser in his ten overs with figures of 2 for 26. The leading wicket-taker at this venue is now also the leading wicket-taker for Bangladesh in ODIs aside from being a likely prospect for finishing as the best Bangladeshi bowler in this match.

BAN vs AFG Head-to-Head in ODIs

In the three one-day internationals played between the two teams, Bangladesh have won two matches while Afghanistan have won one. The former have wins in the last two face-offs, including the recent victory on Sunday at the Shere Bangla National Stadium.

Our Prediction

A win in the last game would have made a slight improvement in Bangladesh's ordinary overall ODI record at the Shere Bangla and they will be looking to improve it further come Wednesday. However, their recent record here is fantastic with 13 wins from their last 15 games. Also, Sunday's narrow victory meant five successive wins for them at this ground.

Afghanistan did really well to expose the rustiness of the hosts who were playing their first ODI in eleven months. There was even a point when it seemed that they had the game in their pocket. It was only in the slog overs that the home team managed to pull things back. Afghanistan were cruising before that. This kind of a fight is surely going to lift their spirits and instill a self-belief in the team that they have what it takes to beat the hosts.

Afghanistan will be raring to go and one can expect an even stronger challenge from them. But we feel that the more vastly experienced Bangladesh will come better prepared and win this second one-day international.