Afghanistan won the toss and decided to bat first.
Pakistan defeated Afghanistan by five wickets in a Group 2 Super 12 match of the ICC T20 World Cup here on Friday.
Opting to bat, Afghanistan were reduced to 64-5 in 9.1 overs, but Gulbadin Naib (35 not out) and captain Mohammad Nabi (35 not out) shared a 71-run stand to take Afghanistan to a competitive level of 147 for 6 Gave.
Chasing the total, Babar Azam scored 51 runs while Asif Ali hit four sixes in the 19th over to help Pakistan post 148 for 5 in 19 overs.
Afghanistan’s spin trio Rashid Khan (2/26), Nabi (1/36) and Mujeeb Ur Rahman (1/14) took wickets.
Imad Wasim (2/25), Shaheed Afridi (1/22), Haris Rauf (1/37), Hasan Ali (1/38) and Shadab Khan (1/22) were the wicket-takers for Pakistan.
Brief scores: Afghanistan: 147 for six in 20 overs (M Nabi 35, G Naib 35, Imad Wasim 2/25).
Pakistan: 148 for 5 in 19 overs (Babar Azam 51; Rashid Khan 2/25).
Earlier, Mohammad Nabi and Gulbadin Naib took Afghanistan to 147/6 with a force of 71 off just 45 balls in the Super-12 competition at the ICC T20 World Cup in Dubai on Friday.
Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat. This was a surprise as Dubai has been friendly to chasing teams so far. Shaheen Shah Afridi ran with a new ball in hand, with Pakistani fans grooving and shouting: “Afridi!” His first over, filled with swing, pace and fire, defied openers Hazratullah Zazai and Mohammad Shahzad. There were two ambitious appeals for LBW; Babar Azam reviewed one after the other when Zazai made a huge lapse, but replays showed the ball was missing from the leg-stump by a wide margin.
With two right-handers at the crease, left-arm spinner Imad Wasim came into the attack in the second over. The move paid dividends as Zazai, looking to break free, a big shot attempt at mid-wicket was only manipulated by Haris Rauf for a top-edge. Afridi then dismissed Shehzad in the next over as Afghanistan lost both the openers for just 13 runs.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Asghar Afghan tried to advance in the second over of Imad; Two big sixes on the leg-side and a four on short fine leg from each side got them 17 runs in the fourth over. But Haris was not going to let the rhythm change. In his first over, he took a quick catch and bowled to remove Afghan and bowled the joint-fastest ball of the tournament at 153kph. In the very next over, Hasan Ali gave a catch to Gurbaz. The mighty powerplay ended with Afghanistan being 49 for four.
Najibullah Zadran gave the Afghan fans something to cheer for, hitting two boundaries off Shadab Khan. But boundaries were still proving to be few and far between, with Karim trying to go big against Janat Imad, who ended up with figures of 4-0-25-2. Leg-spinner Shadab bundled out Afghanistan for 76 for 6 in 13 overs with the wicket of Zadran.
With skipper Nabi and former captain Naib at the crease and Rashid Khan still to come, Afghanistan saw a late bounce in the death overs. Gulbadin was serious on Hasan, scoring 19 runs in his last over with two fours and a six. The two then got caught in Haris and scored 15 runs in their fourth. Afridi’s last over went for seven as Afghanistan scored 54 runs in the last five overs.
With inputs from PTI
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