Under Rashid Khan's leadership, Afghanistan have finally managed to beat Pakistan in the international arena for the first time. A second-string Pakistan side led by Shadab Khan succumbed to 92/9, their lowest total at T20I score. Pakistan batters looked clueless against quality Afghan bowling attack as they suffered a batting collapse. Afghanistan faced a few roadblocks but the 38-year-old Mohammad Nabi dazzled on his return to the T20I squad and guided Afghanistan to six-wicket victory with 13 balls to spare.
In the run chase of 93, opener Ibrahim Zadran (9) lost his wicket early to debutant Ihsanullah as his top-edge carried to Azam Khan. Ihsanullah then got Pakistan's tails up with the wicket of Gulbadin Naib for a two-ball duck. In his third over with the new ball, Naseem Shah got the wicket of Rahmanullah Gurbaz (16) as well to put pressure on Afghanistan who lost three wickets for 27.
In-form all-rounder Karim Janat succumbed to the dot ball pressure and got bowled by Imad Wasim after scoring seven runs. Nabi and Najibullah Zadran got the run chase back on track as there was no scoreboard pressure. They cruised towards the target and did not give Pakistan bowlers any chances. In the 18th over, Nabi finished off the run chase in style with a six. The all-rounder remained unbeaten for run-a-ball 38 including three fours and one six. On the other end, Zadran contributed with 17 runs from 23 deliveries.
Earlier, Shadab won the toss and elected to bat first. Fazalhaq Farooqi dazzled with the new ball and did not let Pakistan top-order batters get easy boundaries. He got the wicket of Mohammad Haris (6) in the third over. In the next over, Abdullah Shafique got out for a two-ball duck to Azmatullah. This was his third two-ball duck in four T20Is. Naveen-ul-Haq was expensive but he managed to get the wicket of Saim Aqub (17) off the last ball of powerplay overs. In the next two overs, Rashid and Mujeeb Ur Rahman got rid of Tayyab Tahir (16) and Azam Khan respectively.
Pakistan could not recover after losing half their side for 41 runs in the eigth over. Skipper Shadab could not make an impact and became second victim of Mujeeb who conceded just nine runs from his quota of four overs. Wasim tried to hold form while Nabi got rid of Faheem Ashraf and Naseem. Pakistan tailender Naseem got hit wicket in an usual manner as Pakistan’s misery continued.
In the 18th over Wasim's ressistance ended too. Farooqi for the wicket of the all-rounder who scored 18 runs from 32 balls. Had it not been for dropped catches, Pakistan would have been bundled out at Sharjah, Zaman Khan and Ihsanullah remained not out as Pakistan managed to post a below par total of 92/9.
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