Asia Cup 2018: Such A Great Game Of Cricket, Says Shahid Afridi As Afghanistan Secures Thrilling Draw Against India

Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi hailed the thrilling tied game between India and Afghanistan in the Asia Cup on Tuesday.

India and Afghanistan played one of the best games of the competition. The fortunes of the game swung from side to side before it ended with no winner.

Batting first, Afghanistan scored a challenging 252 for 8. Mohammad Shahzad and Mohammad Nabi were the architects of the score. While Shahzad scored a superb century to lay the foundation before Nabi scored a quickfire fifty to help his side finish on a good note.

After Asghar Afghan won the toss, Shahzad came out all guns even though he was losing partners at regular intervals. He eventually scored 124 with the help of 11 boundaries and seven sixes. After that, Nabi smashed 64 off 56.

In reply, India were off to a good start. Ambati Rayudu and KL Rahul set the tone for the chase by adding 110 runs in 17 overs.  Nabi gave Afghanistan the much-needed breakthrough by sending back Rayudu for 57.  Just about three overs after Rayudu’s wicket, Rahul also followed him into the pavilion after scoring 60.

From there on, India kept on losing wickets at regular intervals. At one stage, they were reeling at 205 for 6. Ravindra Jadeja and Deepak Chahar then added 21 runs to revive India’s hopes. But  Aftab Alam bowled out Chahar for 12 to make the chase trickier.

With 13 runs left off the last two overs, Kuldeep timed the ball well and hit the ball in the gap but trying to get three runs, he was run out at the bowlers’ end. India needed 7 off the last over. Jadeja hit a boundary off the second delivery of the over to further spice up the contest.

The equation was finally down to 1 off two balls with Jadeja on strike.  Rashid bowled a short ball and Jadeja mistimed the shot, hitting it straight into the hands of the only fielder in the deep.

It was a thrilling game as both the teams received praise from all around. And Pakistan stalwart Shahid Afridi also joined the bandwagon as he called it a great game. He also had a word of praise for Afghanistan.

“Such a great game of cricket ? !! An outstanding performance by team Afghanistan ?? @ACBofficials against the world class indian team !! @MShahzad077 a well deserved ? !! ,” Afridi wrote on Twitter.

Such a great game of cricket ? !! An outstanding performance by team Afghanistan ?? @ACBofficials against the world class indian team !! @MShahzad077 a well deserved ? !! https://t.co/CEIZ1MHJuz

— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) September 25, 2018