Asia Cup 2022: PAK vs AFG Head To Head Records, Super 4, Match 4 (A2 vs B2)

Asia Cup 2022: PAK vs AFG Head To Head Records, Super 4, Match 4 (A2 vs B2). Pakistan will meet Afghanistan in their second Super 4 game on 7th September 2022, Wednesday at 7:30 pm in Dubai International Cricket Stadium. India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka are the teams taking part in the Super Four stage.

Sri Lanka defeated Afghanistan in a thrilling contest that went down till the last over in the second innings and opened their account with two points in their kitty, and two games to play. In another last-over thriller, Pakistan got the better of rivals India to collect their first two points of the Super Four stage. Hence, Pakistan and Afghanistan have mixed fortunes so far in the Super 4 stages.

In the group stage, Afghanistan had beaten Sri Lanka by eight wickets and Bangladesh by seven wickets while Pakistan lost to India by five wickets before defeating Hong Kong by 155 runs.

Sri Lanka pulled off a major upset, beating Afghanistan by 4 wickets in the Super 4 opener. With that, Dasun Shanaka-led Sri Lanka also avenged their humiliating loss in the Asia Cup 2022 opener. Rahmanullah Gurbaz (84) helped Afghanistan post 175/5 but impactful innings from Kusal Mendis, Danushka Gunathilaka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa helped them chase the target with 5 balls to spare.

Kusal Mendis smashed 19-ball 36 to set the tone of the match. After the 62-run opening stand, Sri Lanka never had a great partnership but there were small impactful performances throughout. Pathum Nissanka (35 off 28), Danushka Gunathilaka (33 off 20) and Bhanuka Rajapaksa (31 off 14) besides Wanindu Hasaranga (16 off 9) all contributed well.

With the highest individual score of just 36, Sri Lanka still got over the line comfortably thanks to cameos right through. The final nail in the coffin was Bhanuka Rajapaksa’s 14-ball 31. With 49 needed off the last five overs, Bhanuka Rajapaksa went 4, 4, 6 against Naveen ul Haq and brought the equation down. He stayed put till just two were needed and all but ensured that Sri Lanka got over the line.

Asia Cup 2022: Brief Scores: Afghanistan: 175 for 6 in 20 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 84, Ibrahim Zadran 40; Dilshan Madushanka 2/37). lost to Sri Lanka: 179 for 6 in 19.1 overs (Kusal Mendis 36, Pathum Nissanka 35, Danushka Gunathilaka 33; Mujeeb Ur Rahman 2/30, Naveen-ul-Haq 2/40).

Mohammad Nawaz stunned India with the bat after helping restrict them with the ball after a rampant start to give Pakistan a thrilling win in their Super 4 match against India. A week after India chased successfully in a thrilling group-stage finish, Pakistan returned the favour, asking India to bat and getting home with just one ball to spare.

Mohammad Rizwan anchored the chase with 71 off 51, but it was Mohammad Nawaz who provided the desperately needed impetus. Promoted to No. 4, he smashed 42 off 20 balls to put Pakistan back on track as India’s Virat Kohli’s 44 balls 60 went in vain.

Asia Cup 2022: Pakistan 182 for 5 (Rizwan 71, Nawaz 42) beat India 181 for 7 (Kohli 60, Rahul 28, Rohit 28, Shadab 2-31) by five wickets

The right-arm pacer Shahnawaz Dahani was ruled out against India in the first Super 4 game due to a suspected side strain injury while bowling against Hong Kong in the final group stage match. Injury issues keep piling up for Pakistan’s pacers as they lost Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Wasim even before the start of the Asia Cup 2022 tournament.

Mohammad Hasnain played against India and conceded 38 runs in 4 overs besides picking the prized wicket of Hardik Pandya which played a decisive role in Pakistan’s win.

Afghanistan would depend a lot on opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz who is the 3rd highest run-getter in Asia Cup 2022 with 135 runs in 3 games averaging 45. He top-scored with 84 against Sri Lanka in Afghanistan’s 1st Super 4 game but it went in vain.

Najibullah Zadran, on the other hand, has the best strike rate of 213.79 in Asia Cup 2022 but would like to score more runs. He may be promoted atop the batting order. Skipper all-rounder Mohammad Nabi is out of form with the bat which is a concern for Afghanistan.

On the other hand, off-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman is the joint highest wicket-taker with 7 scalps averaging a mere 10. Rashid Khan, the world’s top-ranked leg spinner hasn’t picked many wickets-4 according to his liking and would like to add more to his tally against Pakistan in Asia Cup 2022.

Afghanistan is likely to go unchanged against Pakistan in Asia Cup 2022 whereas Pakistan may rest a few of their players. The likes of Hasan Ali, Haider Ali, and Usman Qadir are on the bench waiting for opportunities in Asia Cup 2022.

Asia Cup 2022: Afghanistan (Probable Playing XI): Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Mohammad Nabi(c), Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Samiullah Shinwari, Rashid Khan, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi

Asia Cup 2022: Pakistan (Probable Playing XI): Mohammad Rizwan(w), Babar Azam(c), Fakhar Zaman, Khushdil Shah, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah

Asia Cup 2022: PAK vs AFG Head To Head Records, Super 4, Match 4 (A2 vs B2)

Pakistan and Afghanistan have met only twice in T20Is with Pakistan winning both times. The last time they met was in the 2021 T20I World Cup where Pakistan won by 5 wickets chasing 148 with an over to spare. The match was held in Dubai. The two sides met for the first time at Sharjah in 2013/14 where Pakistan won by 6 wickets chasing 138 in 19.5 overs.

Najibullah Zadran has scored the most runs-60 followed by Mohammad Hafeez-52 and Babar Azam-51. Babar Azam has recorded the highest individual score of 51. Junaid Khan has picked the most wickets-3 recording the best bowling figures of 3/24.

Asif Ali hit four sixes in the penultimate over to hand Pakistan their third win on the trot as they beat Afghanistan by five wickets and six balls to spare in a Super 12 game in the 2021 T20I World Cup 2021 at the Dubai International Stadium.

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam scored yet another half-century in 45 balls and remained key to his team’s chances in the run-chase of 148 runs. Batting first, Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi and Gulbadin Naib ended strongly as they collected 43 runs in the last three overs to help the team post 147/6 in 20 overs versus Pakistan.

2021 T20I World Cup: Pakistan 148 for 5 (Babar 51, Asif 25*, Rashid 2-26) beat Afghanistan 147 for 6 (Naib 35*, Imad 2-25) by five wickets

In their first T20I meeting, a score of 137 wouldn’t have appeared as a match-winning one at the halfway stage of the match, but Afghanistan’s bowlers made Pakistan fight till the final ball. Mohammad Hafeez kept Pakistan afloat with an unbeaten 42 to set up a six-wicket win in the first-ever T20I between the two countries.

A combined performance by Pakistan’s bowlers restricted Afghanistan to a middling total. Afghanistan struggled to get going at the start, the score reading a sorry 8 for 2 after five overs. The middle order, led by Najibullah Zadran, made starts but regular strikes kept them in check.

Afghanistan had recovered well to score 92 in an eight-over period, ending in the 15th over. However, Pakistan clawed back by dismissing Najibullah Zadran for 38 and Afghanistan managed only 37 of the last five overs.

2013-14 Only T20I: Pakistan 138 for 4 (Hafeez 42*, Shehzad 35) beat Afghanistan 137 for 8 (Najibullah 38, Junaid 3-24) by six wickets