Asia Cup 2018, Pakistan Beats Afghanistan
Pakistan beat Afghanistan 3 wickets in the Super Four match of Asia cup 2018 and marked their first victory of this stage. Chasing a competitive target of 258, Pakistan got off to a terrible start losing Fakhar Zaman in the first over for a duck, but the partnership between Babar Azam and Imam-ul-Haq laid the foundation of the win. ‘Man of the Match’ Shoaib Malik showed his years of experience and put it to good use to finish the match.
Afghanistan won the toss and chose to bat at the Asia cup 2018. It was a good start for Afghanistan scraping six runs out of the first over. Mohammad Shahzad hit the first boundary of the Afghanistan innings. 18-year-old Shaheen Afridi debuted in the ODI for Pakistan at such a crucial stage of the tournament and concedes just two singles off the second over. Fakhar Zaman and Usman Khan also dropped two catches of Ihsanullah. Riding on a terrific 97 run-knock from Hashmatullah, Afghanistan managed a total of 257 for the loss of 6 wickets. The crucial partnership of Rahmat Shah (36) and skipper Asghar afghan (67) in the middle overs helped put a decent score in front of Pakistan. Hashmatulla Shahidi also batted brilliantly in the middle over. Towards the end, Shahidi played a superb stroke-play taking his team past the 250 mark.
Imam-ul-Haq (80) and Babar Azam (60) managed a 154- run partnership for the third wicket, but successive dismissals of both the batsmen brought Pakistan under pressure. But it was the man of the match, Shoaib Malik who hung on the center taking the scoreboard forward with doubles and singles. It was the experienced batsmen in Malik speaking when he led his country to the winning side with just three balls to spare. He finished the match with a clean six and a four over the second and the third ball of the last over and pulled off a nerve-wracking win in 49.3 overs at Sheikh Zayed Stadium of Dubai to take Pakistan home for the next match of Asia cup 2018.
Pakistan cashing a stiff 258-run target are home with a much-needed win and will now face arch-rival India in Dubai on Sunday for the next match of Asia cup 2018. Afghanistan and Bangladesh meet each other on the same day in Dubai.
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