In a match marred by a last-over controversy, Pakistan won a last-over thriller by 1 wicket, echoing memories of the T20 Asia Cup win in 2022. This time though, in the second ODI, Pakistan was left chasing just 11, when controversy struck. Shadab was run out by a premeditated unsporting Mankad by Fazalhaq, within the rules, but against the spirit of the game by a large margin. Pakistan was left fuming, and Naseem responded with a boundary, a single soon followed to leave 6 needed off 3 balls. A midfield allowed Pakistan to reduce it to 3 of 2. Naseem though managed to hit a boundary, with an outside edge, repeating his heroics from the Asia Cup, a match ignited by Fazalhaq’s controversial Mankad.
Afghanistan Batsmen stand up
Earlier in the day, Afghanistan set up a daunting total of 300 for 5, led by the imperious wicketkeeper Gurbaz’s 151 and a well-judged 80 by his opening partner Zadran. Between them, the opening partnership played out all but the last two balls of the first forty overs. They showed their intent from the start, going down the track to Shaheen Shah Afridi many times, who would go for plenty early on, especially by his usual high standards.
Haris Rauf, who took 5 wickets in the first ODI was unable to repeat his heroic feats, in fact proving expensive as Gurbaz took him on multiple times, most memorably in the 37th over, welcomed back with an 18 run over. Gurbaz became the first wicketkeeper-batsman to cross 150 against Pakistan, and his destruction of the entire Pakistan bowling attack was memorable, taking on the short ball, and taking on every Pakistani bowler. It seemed that 350+ was not just likely but inevitable
The pair were finally separated by Usama Mir, who had a disappointing outing with the ball. From there, Naseem and Shah slowly tightened things, leaving hopes of 350+ far in the dust. Afghanistan though, would have been disappointed to only reach 300, with no one in the middle order firing, the best being Nabi’s run a ball of 29, which was too slow for the situation that they found themselves in.
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Pakistan’s reply, a tale of two halves, ending in last-over controversy
In response, Pakistan started well, with Fakhar starting briskly, but falling disappointingly for 30, to a peach of a delivery by Fazalhaq Farooqi. Babar then joined Imam and between them, they brought up a classy 100 run partnership, peppering the Afghan bowling to all parts of the ground. Batting looked easy as the pair seemed to have Pakistan on the way home to a canter. However, Fazalhaq struck once again, after a lazy shot by Babar, triggering a collapse that took Pakistan from 170/1 to 211/6. Rizwan was run out. Salman never looked in, and an Usama Mir promotion backfired, leading to mounting pressure which was finally too well-madel on Imam, out for a well made 91. There will be questions asked about the promotion, and some of the shot selection by Babar, Imam and Agha.
Shadab joined Iftikhar as Pakistan’s last hope, looking good and compiling a busy knock. Iftikhar, however, struggled and finally holed out to Abdur Rahman. Shaheen fell for 4, as Pakistan continued to collapse, leaving Shadab as the only hope for the Green Shirts to avoid their first ever defeat to Afghanistan. Pakistan fans would also hope for Naseem to repeat his unlikely heroics against Afghanistan in the 2022 Asia Cup.
Naseem was almost run out off the first ball in the 48-off over, with 27 still needed of 11 balls, as Shadab showed his desperation to keep the strike as the established batsman. Afghanistan would regret this mistake. Abdul Rahman, despite being expensive, kept it tight for the first four deliveries, with Shadab trying to exert pressure with quick doubles. In the end though, the rising pressure told and Rahman bowled a full toss at a vital moment to give Pakistan a boundary, following it up with another full toss, this time deposited for 6, leaving just 11 off the final over. Last-over controversy followed though, with a Mankad, as it usually does, but Naseem Shah had the final laugh once again, leaving Gurbaz’s knock of 150+ in vain.
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