At the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, here on Wednesday, Pakistan overcame a scare and maintained composure to defeat Afghanistan by one wicket in an exciting Super Four match to advance to the Asia Cup 2022 final and eliminate India from the competition.
Pakistan will now play Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup final following this victory. Afghanistan and India, on the other hand, were eliminated after each team lost their two Super Four games in a row. The two teams will now square off on Thursday in a dead rubber.
The bowling performances of Haris Rauf (2/26), Naseem Shah (1/19), Mohammad Nawaz (1/23), Shadab Khan (1/27), and Mohammad Hasnain (1/34) helped Pakistan restrict Afghanistan to 129-6 in 20 overs after winning the toss and choosing to bowl first.
The top scorer for Afghanistan was Ibrahim Zadran (35 off 37), while Hazratullah Zazai (21 off 17), Rashid Khan (18 off 15), and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (17 off 11) contributed significantly with the bat.
Chasing a modest score, Pakistan got off to a slow start as they lost captain Babar Azam ((0)) in the first ball of the innings. Babar was hurried by the velocity and swing of Fazalhaq Farooqi's delivery and was caught in front of the wicket.
The next batter, Fakhar Zaman (5), likewise didn't seem at ease against Mujeeb Ur Rahman and tried to get going with the strike, but a strong direct hit from Najibullah sent him back to the pavilion, bringing Pakistan's score after 3.1 overs to 18-2. Mohammad Rizwan, who has been in excellent form, batted conservatively to help Pakistan reach 35/2 at the end of the powerplay. He was joined by Iftikhar Ahmed.
Rashid Khan, Afghanistan's top spinner, lived up to expectations, and he did not dissapoint. In his second over of bowling, Rashid gave his team some hope by trapping Rizwan (20) with a faster googly.
Pakistan made the decision to move leg-spinner Shadab Khan up into the batting order in place of Nawaz. Pakistan was 52/3 at the midway point, so he and Iftikhar Ahmed had work to do.
Shadab and Iftikhar both alternated strikes while also scoring a few boundaries to put Pakistan on track during the run chase. By getting rid of Iftikhar (30), Fareed Ahmad provided Afghanistan with the much-needed breakthrough that allowed them to reenter the game.
Rashid got involved once more, dismissing Shadab, who had been elevated in the pecking order and had been so impressive during his 36 off 26. The following batter, Asif Ali, hit a six on the first pitch to help his team gain momentum.
From that point on, everyone was looking on Mohammad Nawaz (4) and Khushdil Shah (1) to seal the victory for Pakistan, but they fell short as Afghanistan appeared to be winning easily. The dismissal of Asif Ali (16) in the last over seemed to be the deciding blow for Pakistan, who now required 12 runs off 7 balls.
Fazalhaq Farooqi, Afghanistan's most effective bowler of the night until to the start of the last over, eventually failed under duress when Pakistan required 11 runs in 6 balls to win. With back-to-back sixes off the opening two balls and Pakistan's exciting one-wicket victory with four balls remaining, Naseem Shah twice struck the sweet spot on his bat.
The wicket-takers for Afghanistan were Fazalhaq Farooqi (3/31), Fareed Ahmad Malik (3/31), and Rashid Khan (2/25)
Afghanistan had a quick start earlier. Rahmanullah Gurbaz, the young opener, ended the second over against Mohammad Hasnain with back-to-back sixes after Naseem Shah's four-run opening over.
Rauf, who was sent in to bowl the fourth over, however, rattled Gurbaz's stumps with a length ball. However, Hazratullah Zazai was also in fine shape when he approached Hasnain on a slow off cutter.
It was a severe test for Afghanistan's middle order when both openers were dismissed for 43-2 after 4.5 overs. But after 10 overs, Ibrahim Zadran and Karim Janat quietly batted to get their team to 72/2.
Janat (15) chose to bowl Mohammad Nawaz in an effort to give Afghanistan's innings some momentum. He attempted a big shot, but the ball gained elevation rather than travelling the necessary distance, and he was caught at long-on.
Shadab Khan's purpose was revealed when Najibullah Zadran (10) defeated him with a six-run shot. He went for another one, but he holed out to Fakhar Zaman. After that, captain Mohammad Nabi, who was taking part in his 100th game, was dismissed for a golden duck after Naseem Shah's bowling caused an inside-edge to bounce onto the stumps.
The onus was on Ibrahim Zadran, who was Afghanistan's finest batter that day, to save his team from a precarious circumstance. But after 16.3 overs, Afghanistan was struggling at 104-6 when Haris Rauf removed him.
It was Rashid, who played a useful cameo to give some push to the target. He smashed Rauf for a six and a four to pick up 10 runs in the last over and along with Azmatullah Omarzai (10 not out off 10) took Afghanistan to 129-6 in 20 overs.
Brief scores: Afghanistan 129 for 6 in 20 overs (Ibrahim Zadran 35, Hazratullah Zazai 21; Haris Rauf 2/26) lost to Pakistan 131-9 in 19.2 overs (Shadab Khan 36, Iftikhar Ahmed 30; Fazalhaq Farooqi 3/31), Fareed Ahmad Malik 3/31) by 1 wickets.