LAHORE (Abdul Basit): Afghanistan showcased their growing prowess in white-ball cricket with a commanding all-round display, sealing an 18-run victory over Pakistan in the fourth match of the T20I Tri-Nation Series at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
Half-centuries from Sediqullah Atal and Ibrahim Zadran, followed by a disciplined bowling effort, powered Afghanistan to a formidable 169/5 before restricting Pakistan to 151/9. Chasing a daunting 170-run target, Pakistan’s batting unit could accumulate 151/9 in their set of 20 overs. The Green Shirts had a dismal start to the pursuit as they lost both their openers, Saim Ayub (0) and Sahibzada Farhan (18), inside four overs with just 29 runs on the board. Following the early hiccup, experienced top-order batter Fakhar Zaman and skipper Salman Ali Agha attempted to launch a recovery and had put together 33 runs for the third wicket before both perished in successive overs, reducing Pakistan to 67/4 in 8.3 overs.
Fakhar remained a notable run-getter for Pakistan with an 18-ball 25, featuring three fours and a six, while Agha made 20 off 15 deliveries with the help of one six and a four. The back-to-back dismissals triggered a match-defining collapse, which further reduced Pakistan to 111/9 in 17 overs. Tailenders Haris Rauf and Sufiyan Muqeem offered brief resistance at the backend by putting together an unbeaten 40-run partnership for the 10th wicket, which, however, was insufficient to steer them to glory.
Rauf top-scored for Pakistan with 34 not out from just 16 deliveries with the help of four sixes, while Muqeem contributed with an unbeaten seven. For Afghanistan, Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Noor Ahmad and Fazalhaq Farooqi bagged two wickets each.
Opting to bat first, Afghanistan racked up a massive total of 169/5 in their allotted 20 overs, courtesy of a monumental second-wicket partnership between Ibrahim Zadran and Sediqullah Atal. Afghanistan got off to a shaky start to their innings as Saim Ayub dismissed their explosive opening batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz (8) in the second over with just 10 runs on the board. Zadran then joined Atal and both raised 113 runs during their second-wicket partnership.
The century-plus stand was eventually broken by Faheem Ashraf in the 16th over when he got Atal caught at long-on. He smashed three fours and as many sixes on his way to a 45-ball 64. Faheem picked two more wickets in his next overs, dismissing Azmatullah Omarzai and set batter Zadran, and reduced Afghanistan to 146/4 in 17.5 overs.
Zadran remained the top-scorer for Afghanistan with 65 off 45 deliveries, laced with eight fours and a six. The right-arm pacer then dismissed M Nabi (6) to round up his career-best bowling figures of 4/27. Skipper Rashid Khan and fellow all-rounder Karim Janat remained unbeaten on 8 each. Besides Faheem, Saim Ayub got 1 for 18.
BRIEF SCORE: AFGHANISTAN 169/5 in 20 overs (Ibrahim Zadran 65, Sediqullah Atal 64; Faheem Ashraf 4/27, Saim Ayub 1/18) beat PAKISTAN 151/9 in 20 overs (Haris Rauf 34*, Fakhar Zaman 25, Agha Salman 20; Mohammad Nabi 2/20, Noor Ahmad 2/20, Rashid Khan 2/30, Fazalhaq Farooqi 2/21) by 18 runs.
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