Pakistan continued their dominance in the ongoing T20 World Cup as they defeated Afghanistan by five wickets in Dubai on Friday (October 29).
Opting to bat first, Afghanistan posted 147/6 in 20 overs on the back of Gulbadin Naib and skipper Mohammad Nabai’s unbeaten 35-run each.
Imad Wasim starred with the ball for Pakistan, claiming two wickets by conceding 25 runs in his four overs while Shaheen Afridi and Shadab Khan returned with impressive figures 1 for 22 in their four-over quota.
In reply, Pakistan lost Mohammad Rizwan (8) cheaply but the duo of Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman added 63 runs for the second wicket to put the team in a commanding position.
After Fakhar’s dismissal on 30, however, Pakistan’s innings crumbled a bit with Mohammad Hafeez falling for just 10. Captain Babar (51 off 47) held the innings from one end and scored a half-century but got out to Rashid Khan soon after completing the milestone. Shoaib Malik too couldn’t finish the job and fell in the 18th over after playing a handy knock of 15-ball 19.
Pakistan needed 24 runs off the last two overs and Asif Ali (25* off 7) rose to the occasion for them once again, smashing Karim Janat for four sixes in the penultimate over to seal the deal with 6 deliveries to spare.
For his stunning cameo with the bat, Asif Ali garnered rich praise from the cricket fraternity on Twitter.
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