PAK vs AFG: "We Didn't Finish Well", Rues Afghanistan Skipper Mohammad Nabi
Published - 08 Sep 2022, 02:21 AM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 06:55 AM
Afghanistan suffered their second consecutive loss in their Asia Cup 2022 campaign as Pakistan clinched a tantalizing win by 1-wicket to book the finals berth. With the loss, Mohammad Nabi and Co crash out of the continental tournament.
Speaking after the match, the Afghanistan skipper stated, “We didn’t finish well. It was a battle of nerves and the boys didn’t quit at any stage. Just like the Bangladesh game, this too went down to the wire but we were unfortunately unable to take the match over the line.”
Naseem Shah hit back-to-back sixes in the final over
Naseem Shah smashed back-to-back sixes in the final over to take Pakistan past the finish line. Pakistan lost their captain Babar Azam off the first ball he faced. Then Mohamad Rizwan added 27 runs for the third wicket with Iftikhar Ahmed (30). Thereafter, Shadab Khan promoted in the order took charge of the chase as he made 36 off 26 balls with three sixes and one four. Then there was a collapse as Pakistan lost wickets at regular intervals.
Asif Ali struck couple of sixes to bring the chase closer. Pakistan lost couple of wickets each in the 18th over and 19th over. For Afghanistan the successful bowlers were Farooqi (3-31), Fareed Malik (3-31) and Rashid Khan (2-25).
Afghanistan batsmen fail to stitch a challenging total
Earlier, Afghanistan got off to a brisk start as both openers Hazratullah Zazai and Rahmanullah Gurbaz put on 36. Then there was a brief collapse. Only Ibrahim Zadran held the innings together with a 37 ball 35. The innings collapsed swiftly as Afghanistan slipped from 78 for two to 91 for five.
Towards the end of the innings slipped further as the scoring rate slowed down. Rashid Khan played a nice cameo, but that was not enough as Afghanistan finished on 129 for six in their 20 overs. For Pakistan the best bowler was fast bowler Haris Rauf (2-26).
