Afghanistan’s love affair with the Sharjah Cricket Stadium continued as they registered their 19th T20I win at the venue, beating Pakistan by 18 runs in the fourth match of the ongoing UAE Tri-series.
The spin trio of Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Noor Ahmad shared six wickets between them — two each — to lead Afghanistan’s defence. Defending 170, Fazalhaq Farooqi struck twice with the new ball, removing both Pakistan openers — Saim Ayub and Sahibzada Farhan — and denting the Men in Green’s chances of chasing the target. Pakistan’s strength lies at the top, and having lost both in-form batters, the inexperienced middle order struggled to counter Afghanistan’s spin threat.
Fakhar Zaman and captain Salman Ali Agha got starts but failed to convert them. As a result, even after a brief rebuilding phase, Pakistan collapsed from 62/3 to 111/9. Later in the innings, Haris Rauf provided a brief scare with his unbeaten 34 off 16 balls, but the task proved too much in the end. For the first time in their T20I history, a number 10 or number 11 batter top-scored for Pakistan.
Zadran, Atal smash fifties
On a wicket that assisted both pacers and spinners, Afghanistan did well to post 169. Although Rahmanullah Gurbaz was dismissed early, Ibrahim Zadran and Sediqullah Atal did the bulk of the scoring, forging a 113-run partnership and completing their respective half-centuries. They never looked in discomfort at the crease, taking the attack to Haris Rauf and the left-arm wrist spin of Sufiyan Muqeem. Even Mohammad Nawaz went for 24 runs in his two overs. The only bright spot for Pakistan was Faheem Ashraf’s spell — the seam-bowling all-rounder registered his best T20I figures of 4/27.
Rashid’s decision to bat first proved to be the right one, as batting became slightly more difficult in the second innings.
“We got exactly what we wanted,” said a pleased Rashid after the match. “It wasn’t easy to chase that (170) on this wicket. We wanted to score 160-plus and give the best chance to our bowlers. We have that kind of bench strength.”
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