Asia Cup 2022: PAK vs AFG Match Preview, Super 4, Match 4 (A2 vs B2)

Asia Cup 2022: PAK vs AFG Match Preview, 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), Dannushka Gunathilaka (33 off 20) and Bhanuka Rajapaksa (31 off 14) besides Wanindu Hasaranga (16 off 9) all contributed well.

With a 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, 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

Asia Cup 2022: PAK vs AFG Match Preview, Super 4, Match 4 (A2 vs B2)

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.

Afghanistan is likely to go unchanged against Pakistan 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.

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