Pakistan got rid of their blues in the third T20I dead-rubber fixture against Afghanistan to seal a 66-run victory and prevent a whitewash in Sharjah on Monday (March 27) night. It was a complete all-round performance by Pakistan, who first scored 182 runs and then restricted the Afghans to 116 to ensure the series finished 2-1.
After subpar showings in the first two ODIs, Saim Ayub was classy with the bat, while Mohammad Haris' poor form continued. The latter hit the ball straight to Usman Ghani off Mujeeb Ur Rahman's bowling, but Ayub missed out on a maiden international half-century by one run.'
Apart from Haris, the other batters fared better. Abdullah Shafique ended his four-match duck streak to score 23 off 13 balls, while Iftikhar Ahmed played a crucial knock of 31 runs in 25 balls. Skipper Shadab Khan also pitched in with the runs, scoring 28 off 17.
For Afghanistan with the ball, Mujeeb got the wickets of Haris and Imad Wasim, while his compatriots bagged one wicket each.
With the ball, Ihsanullah got the breakthrough early, sending opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz back to the pavilion after he scored 18 off 11 balls. Sediqullah Atal, playing his first international match for Afghanistan, was slow during his innings, and managed only 11 off 19 before being caught LBW by Mohammad Wasim.
Shadab then entered the action to get the wicket of Ibrahim Zadran (3), after which, the dangerous Mohammad Nabi was run out by Tayyab Tahir and wicketkeeper Mohammad Haris but Najibullah Zadran was the victim of a vicious bouncer that left him injured and bleeding and forcing him to retire hurt from the match.
It was the first ball that Zadran faced, being bowled by Ihsanullah. The young pacer bowled a bouncer that rammed into the grilles of Najibullah's helmet and rattled him deeply. The injury was quite severe as replays showed how dangerous the ball was. Najibullah was lucky that the ball hit his glove first, softening the pace of the delivery a little before it hit his helmet.
He was bleeding down his neck from his lower jaw and had to leave the field immediately.
This effectively ended Afghanistan's batting attack, with the lower order succumbing to Ihsanullah and Shadab. Rashid Khan's 16 off 14 and Azmatullah Omarzai's 21 off 20 went in vain as the Pakistani bowlers dismissed their rivals for 116 runs.
This will prove little consolation for the Pakistani second-string side, who lost the first two T20Is to Afghanistan by six and seven wickets respectively.
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