Pakistan entered the contest after pocketing wins against India and New Zealand. Seems like their dominance in the ongoing T20 World Cup will be difficult to halt. The Babar Azam-led side now have made it three in three by defeating their Asian neighbours Afghanistan in an emotional roller coaster in Dubai.
Beaming with confidence after their impressive show against two dominant oppositions, a confident Pakistan camp survived a stiff Afghanistan challenge to notch up a five-wicket win in the Super 12 Group 2 match on Friday.
Afghanistan, with dynamic batters and world-class spinners in their arsenal, is not a side that can be taken lightly. And they proved it again when they squared off against an intimidating batting force.
Just when Pakistan looked in control during the 148 chase, Afghanistan shifted the momentum by plucking wickets at regular intervals. Babar Azam (51 off 47 deliveries) and Fakhar Zaman (30 off 25 balls) set the tone before Asif Ali emerged as Pakistan's hero again.
Pakistan faltered again while chasing a modest total before Ali turned the tables in style. Rashid Khan's cracking spell (2 for 26 in four overs) shook Pakistan before Ali entered the scene and exploded with a flurry of sixes. Pakistan chased down the total with an over to spare to inch closer towards semis berth.
The Asif Ali carnage
Asif Ali hammered four sixes en route 7-ball 25, shifting the momentum in Pakistan's favour within minutes. Ali's carnage started with the first delivery of the penultimate over when he smoked a maximum over long-off against Karim Janat.
He followed it with a flat six over deep mid-wicket and hit the final nail in the coffin by blasting two sixes off last two deliveries of the over. It was a deja vu of the previous game for Pakistan! The power-hitter had also whacked 27 off 12 against New Zealand.
Only Dwayne Smith (414.3) and Yuvraj Singh (362.5) have a better strike-rate (minimum 25 runs) than Ali in the T20 World Cup history.
"I was talking to Shoaib when I walked in to bat and I told him that I was confident enough of getting 20-25 in one over against Karim Janat, which I did," he said in the post-match presentation.
Afghanistan's fearless approach
A shaky start, four wickets in the Powerplay, and facing Shaheen Afridi's rockets didn't really affect Afghanistan's momentum, who kept ticking the scoreboard with regular boundaries.
Imad Wasim drew first blood and packed Hazratullah Zazai, who tried to whack it over mid-wicket but picked out Haris Rauf at short third man. Afridi, who clocked 150 kph before the blazing Haris Rauf came into the picture with his usual self, then got rid of Mohammad Shahzad (8) with a good length delivery.
Asghar Afghan (10) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (10) then targeted Imad Wasim and collected 17 runs from his next over, both hitting him for a six each. But Rauf entered the wickets column by removing Asghar for 10. Hasan Ali also joined the fest by getting rid of Gurbaz.
Nabi and Gulbadin fire in unison
Afghanistan were gasping at 76 for six in the 13th over, with the contest starting to seem like a lop-sided one. Skipper Mohammad Nabi and Gulbadin Naib produced some late fireworks to help their side notch up an intimidating total on the board.
The duo added 71 runs in 7.1 overs with 43 coming in the last three overs. The Afghan batting unit survived a stiff challenge before Nabi and Gulbadin collectively whacked 9 fours and a six. Nabi finished with unbeaten 35 off 32 deliveries while Gulbadin recorded 25-ball 35*. Gulbadin also donned the Afghanistan jersey for the 50th time in T20 Internationals.
The late flourish started when they creamed 21 runs from the 17th over bowled by Hasan Ali. A 120-ish total would have seemed far from intimidating, especially against an in-form Pakistan batting force. The Afghans, however, didn't settle for a below-par total to reach 147 in their 20 overs.
