The 36th match of the ICC World Cup 2019 saw Pakistan take on Afghanistan in a nail-biting encounter at the Headingley, Leeds. Pakistan needed to win this match to stay alive in the tournament, while Afghanistan was playing for pride.
Afghan captain Gulbadin Naib won the toss and chose to bat first. Rahmat Shah (35), Asghar Afghan (42) and Najibullah Zadran (42) were the main scorers of their innings, as they posted 227/9 in 50 overs. Shaheen Afridi picked 4/47, while Wahab Riaz, who played the game with a fracture in his right hand, picked 2/29.
Mujeeb gave Afghanistan team the perfect start, sending back Fakhar Zaman for a duck. Imam (36) and Babar (45) added 72 runs, but Mohammad Nabi sent both of them back. The Afghanistan spinners formed a web of brilliant bowling around Pakistani batsmen as they fell one after another. Sohail made 27 and it was later Imad and Shadab’s half-century partnership and an 18-run over from captain Naib in the 46th over that brought the Men in Green back into the game.
Wahab Riaz, with an injured hand, tonked Rashid for a six in the penultimate over, to bring the target down to a run-a-ball. Pakistan eventually won the match by 3 wickets in the last over as Imad remained unbeaten on 49* and Wahab made a valuable 15*.
Mujeeb picked 2/34, while Nabi picked 2/23 as Afghanistan saw a match that they could have won, slip away from their hands, thanks to some poor fielding and captaincy error.
Cricket fraternity breathed a sigh of relief on Twitter as Afghanistan almost pulled the game away from the Pakistanis, but the Men in Green persevered to win the match.
Here are some tweets:
