Pakistan won a seesawing, low-scoring thriller to beat Afghanistan by one wicket in Sharjah, thus booking their date with Sri Lanka in the final of the 2022 Asia Cup. The result not only brought down the curtain on Afghanistan's campaign but also on defending champions India's.
Having restricted Afghanistan to 129 for 6 after winning the toss, Pakistan would have expected smooth sailing but Afghanistan's bowlers kept a lid on the scoring rate. After ten overs, Pakistan were 52 for 3.
Shadab Khan, promoted to No. 5, released the pressure with some lusty hits but Afghanistan kept picking up the wickets to stay in the contest. Still, it wasn't until Fazalhaq Farooqi's double-strike in the 18th over that Afghanistan had a real chance.
With 21 needed from two overs, Fareed Ahmad sent back Haris Rauf and the dangerous Asif Ali. That left Pakistan requiring 11 from the final over, with No. 10 Naseem Shah and No. 11 Mohammad Hasnain at the crease. But Farooqi missed his yorker twice in two balls, and Naseem despatched both full tosses over long-off to seal the game with four balls to spare.
Rauf, Hasnain strike after brisk start
Earlier in the day, Naseem kicked things off for Pakistan with a tight first over, but Hasnain struggled with his line and length. Rahmanullah Gurbaz took advantage of that, hitting Hasnain for back-to-back sixes in the second over.
Hazratullah Zazai once again had a circumspect start. He was on 8 off ten balls before Haris strayed on the pads. Zazai duly tucked it to the fine-leg boundary before punching the next ball through covers for four. Rauf then bowled one short, which Zazai ramped towards deep third where Naseem spilled the chance.
Rauf wasn't to be denied for long, though. Two balls later, he bowled Gurbaz, who tried to slog a length ball through midwicket but failed to connect. Zazai couldn't capitalise on the dropped chance either, with Hasnain castling him with a slower ball in the fifth over.
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/asia-cup-2022-1327237/afghanistan-vs-pakistan-10th-match-super-four-1327278/match-report
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