Sharjah 7 September : Pakistan produced a spectacular bowling performance that slowed Afghanistan to 129/6 in Super 4 match of the Asia Cup 2022 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, here on Wednesday.Ibrahim Zadran (35 off 37) was the top scorer for Afghanistan while Hazratullah Zazai (21 off 17), Rashid Khan (18 off 15), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (17 off 11) were the other major players with the bat.
First batsmen to bat, Afghanistan were off to an easy start.After a first over that was four runs played by Naseem Shah, the young opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz finished the second over with back-to-back sixes against Mohammad Hafnain.
Then, Rauf, who came to bowl the fourth over, hit the stumps of Gurbaz with the length of his ball.On the other side, Hazratullah Zazai was also looking good before heading out to Hasnain with the slow off cutter.
With both openers out to 43-2 after 4.5 overs it was a massive challenge for Afghanistan’s middle order.But, Ibrahim Zadran and Karim Janat were cautious in their bats to get their side to 72/2 in just 10 overs.
To add energy to Afghanistan innings Janat (15) chose to go for Mohammad Nawaz and went for a big shot , however the ball did not enough to cover the required distance, and was snagged at the long-on.
Najibullah Zadran (10) hit a six against Shadab Khan and was able to clear his intentions.Then, he holed out to Fakhar Zaman in the hope of another.
Then captain Mohammad Nabi, who is playing his 100th game, went out for a golden duck because an inside-edge ricochets into the stumps during the bowling of Naseem Shah.
Ibrahim Zadran, who was the best batter in Afghanistan at the time, was given the responsibility of bailing his team out of an uncertain situation.However, Haris Rauf dismissed him to leave Afghanistan struggling to get 104-6 in 16.3 overs.
It was Rashid who was an important cameo to provide some ado to the goal.He crushed Rauf for six and four to score 10 runs in the final over.
He together with Azmatullah Omarzai (10 not out of 10) took Afghanistan to 129-6 in 20 overs.
For Pakistan, Haris Rauf was the top choice of bowlers with figures of 226 and 226 respectively, while Naseem Shah (1/19), Mohammad Nawaz (1/23), Shadab Khan (1/27) Mohammad Hasnain (1/34) each picked 1 wicket for each.
Brief scores: Afghanistan – 129 for 6 in 20 overs (Ibrahim Zadran 35, Hazratullah Zazai 21; Haris Rauf 2/26) vs Pakistan
