Pakistan defeated Afghanistan by one wicket in a nail-biting match on Wednesday. The Super 4 match of the Asia Cup was played at Sharjah Stadium in Sharjah. With this win, the Pakistan team has booked a place in the final. Sri Lanka and Pakistan will face off in the final on 11th September.
Earlier, the Pakistan skipper won the toss and invited Afghanistan to bat first. Both openers, Hazratullah Zazai and Guraz, gave a decent start to Afghanistan with a partnership of 35 runs in the first four overs. Zazai scored 21 runs before getting out to Hasnain, while Gurbaz managed to score 17 runs.
Ibrahim Zadran also played a crucial knock of 35 runs, with Rauf Khan smashing 18 of just 15 balls. Afghanistan put up a score of 129 for the loss of six wickets in 20 overs. Haris Rauf took two wickets, while Naseem Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Nawaz, and Shadab Khan grabbed one wicket each.
Chasing a target of 130 runs, Pakistan lost Babar and Fakhar Zaman very cheaply at a total score of just 18. Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed played sensibly before Rizwan adjudged LBW on Rashid Khan’s bowling. Rizwan scored 20 runs. Later, Iftikhar and Shadab Khan managed to build a small partnership and took the score to 97. But, amazing bowling by Fazalhaq Farooqi and Fareed Ahmad Malik put Pakistan on the back foot, with most of the other batters getting out early.
Match went till the last over, where Pakistan needed 12 runs off just six balls. At this time, Afghanistan was the favorite to win the match, but Naseem Shah played a cameo and hit two sixes in a row to finish the match on the first two balls of the over. Fazalhaq Farooqi and Fareed Ahmad Malik from Afghanistan took three wickets each, while Rashid Khan pocketed two wickets. Shadab Khan was adjudged man of the match for his all-around performance.
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