Pakistan one wicket victory over Afghanistan eliminates defending champions India out of the competition

SHARJAH: Naseem Shah fearless approach in final overs was instrumental in Pakistan one wicket victory in a low scoring thriller in a must win game for both sides to book a place in the final. Winning the toss and opting to field first Pakistan played with the same team but Afghanistan made two changes Naveen, Shinwari paved the way for Fareed and Azmatullah.

Zazai and Gurbaz gave an attacking start. Though the first wicket came earlier at the end of fourth over Gurbaz completely missed the slog of Rauf after hitting back to back sixes of Hasnain. Zazai was dismissed to a slower delivery of Hasnain six balls later after the first wicket. After the loss of openers Zadran was the only player to score 30 plus score with strike rate of below hundred others batters were returning to the pavilion with no time. In the end Afg played the entire quota of 20 overs but made only 129 for the loss of 6 wickets with below par score. But the score was enough to put Pakistan batters in the test.

In chase, Babar's poor run of form in the tournament continued and was dismissed for a golden duck in first over by Farooqi. Zaman was run out by Najibullah for 5. The partnership of Rizwan and Iftikhar was in rebuilding process but Rizwan was dismissed for 20 less than a ball he faced. The duo of Shadab khan and Iftikhar took close to the target. Both batsmen returned to the pavilion without finishing the game and the collapse started there and the wicket started tumbling. In the final over Pakistan required 11 runs with Tai enders in the crease. But Naseem Shah had another idea, sending Farooqi back to back sixes and finishing the match with four balls to spare. With this victory Pakistan will face Srilanka in the final. Before the match for glory these two teams will face each other in a super 4 match.

Match Summary:

AFG 129-6 (Ibrahim Zardan 35, Hazratullah Zazai 21, Haris Rauf 2-26)

PAK 131-9 (Shadab Khan 36, Iftikhar Ahmed 30, Fazalhaq Farooqi 3-31)

Pakistan won by 1 wicket