Liton ton powers Bangladesh to ODI series win

Liton Das has hammered a century as Bangladesh secured an 88-run win against Afghanistan in their second one-day international to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

Liton struck 16 fours and two sixes in his 126-ball 136 as Bangladesh posted 4-306, their highest total against Afghanistan. 

Bangladesh then dismissed Afghanistan for 218 in 45.1 overs with a disciplined display of bowling at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram.

Liton was well supported by Mushfiqur Rahim (86) as they combined for a national record third-wicket stand of 202.

"Enjoyed my partnership with Mushfiqur," Liton said. "We also had some good partnerships in the past. He encouraged me a lot."

The pair came together at 2-83 after captain Tamim Iqbal fell for 12 and star allrounder Shakib Al Hasan (20) was out leg before to Rashid Khan, carrying the score to 3-285 – Bangladesh's fifth highest ODI partnership.

Liton brought up his fifth ODI century with a four off Rashid (1-54) before both he and Mushfiqur were dismissed off successive deliveries by Fareed Ahmad in the 47th over.

Afghanistan slipped to 3-34 in reply before Najibullah Zadran (54) and Rahmat Shah (52) steadied the ship with an 89-run stand for the fourth wicket.

But Taskin Ahmed (2-31) bowled Shah to break the partnership and then dismissed Zadran to put Bangladesh firmly in control.

Rashid (29 off 26 balls) provided some late fireworks with three boundaries and a six, but when he was out bowled by Mustafizur Rahman in the 41st over it effectively signalled the end of Afghanistan's resistance.

It sealed the series win for Bangladesh after they'd taken the first match by four wickets, with the third and final ODI to be played at the same ground on Monday.

"We conceded a few too many in the early overs and then that partnership between Mushy and Liton took the game away from us," Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said.

The win also catapults Bangladesh (100 points) to the top of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Super League standings, leapfrogging England on 95 points.

The Super League, which is set to be scrapped after the first and only edition, takes place across two years and will help decide which teams feature in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 in India.

There are 13 teams taking part in the competition – the 12 full member nations and the Netherlands – with India and the other top seven teams to qualify automatically for the World Cup, while the bottom five teams will play a qualifying tournament.

Australia currently sits sixth, level with Afghanistan on 60 points.