It was a brilliant all-round effort by the Afghanistan players as they secured an unlikely seven-wicket victory, and the series, over their rivals Pakistan in Sharjah on Sunday (March 26) night. Chasing 130 for the win proved to be a difficult affair but the resilience of the Afghanistan batters in tackling the inexperienced Pakistan bowlers helped them to the win with one ball to spare.
In the first T20I, Afghanistan secured their maiden T20I win over Pakistan.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz played an important role on the way to the victory with his 44 runs in 49 balls. His innings included 2 fours and 1 six, and his slow innings was complemented by Najibullah Zadran's power hitting, which helped the minnows chase down 30 runs in 3 overs.
After Zaman Khan got the first wicket in the 4th over, sending Usman Ghani (7) back to the pavilion, Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran stitched up a 56-run partnership off 68 balls to dismantle the Pakistani bowling unit. Eventually, Gurbaz was run out by Naseem Shah with the score reading 86/2 and two overs later, Ibrahim also returned to the pavilion as Pakistan managed to claw their way back to victory.
In the end, Najibullah powered his team to the win with his 23 runs off 12 balls with 2 fours and a six. He combined with the 1st T20I's match-winner Mohammad Nabi (14) as the duo ensured the win in the second-last match of the tournament.
Among the Pakistani bowlers, sans Zaman and Ihsanullah (who got Ibrahim), no one else managed to get a wicket.
Earlier, Saim Ayub and Abdullah Shafique were condemned to ducks as Pakistan were reeling at 0/2 in the first over. Fazalhaq Farooqi took their wickets in consecutive balls, first getting Ayub caught by wicketkeeper Gurbaz, and then catching Abdullah LBW. In fact, Shafique became the first player with four consecutive ducks in men's T20Is.
