Afghanistan vs Pakistan
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Afghanistan vs Pakistan, 2nd T20I: Afghanistan take an unassailable 2-0 lead beating Pakistan by 7 wickets
Afghanistan successfully chased down the target set by Pakistan, of 131 runs, winning by 7 wickets, to make history today, as they took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.
Match Summary
Afghanistan vs Pakistan, 2nd T20I, Afghanistan vs Pakistan in UAE
Afghanistan 133/3 (19.5 ov)
Pakistan 130/6 (20 ov)
Result - Afghanistan won by 7 wickets
This was the ????????????! ??
— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) March 24, 2023
The President @MohammadNabi007 finished the job in some style to make history and win the game for Afghanistan. ????#AfghanAtalan | #AFGvPAK | #LobaBaRangRawri pic.twitter.com/QPdMimCEdB
Match Analysis
Afghanistan overcame late nerves in the closing overs to beat Pakistan by seven wickets in the second Twenty20 international on Sunday and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-game series.
Needing 30 off the last three overs, and 22 from the last two, Najibullah Zadran and Mohammad Nabi hit a six each off pace bowler Naseem Shah in the penultimate over to reduce the target to five runs.
Zadran then hit the winning boundary off Zaman Khan's last over to chase down the 131-run target with one ball to spare.
"It's a great honour and pleasure to lead this wonderful team," said Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan.
"It was a great effort with the ball, and then we took it deep and finished it."
He added: "I think 130 was a good total. We tried our best to take it deep and finish it. Our strategy was to go out there and make sure you take responsibility. We have players to finish it like Nabi and Najib."
Pakistan's 130-6 in 20 overs was built around a sedate 57-ball 64 not out by all-rounder Imad Wasim -- his maiden T20I half century.
This was Afghanistan's first bilateral T20I series against any of the top six teams -- India, England, Pakistan, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.
They have previously won a T20I series each against the West Indies and Bangladesh and five in five against Zimbabwe.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (44 off 49 balls) and Ibrahim Zadran (38 off 40 balls) set the platform during their 56-run second wicket stand.
However, their slow batting left Afghanistan needing to score 46 off the last 30 balls.
Najibullah (23) and Nabi (14) remained unbeaten to seal the victory.
"Our motive for this series was to check out talented young players and we have to back them in the future," said Pakistan captain Shadab Khan.
Earlier, Pakistan's recovery was led by Imad who hit two sixes and three boundaries to rescue Pakistan from 63-5 after winning the toss and batting.
Imad and Shadab (32) added 67 for the sixth wicket.
Pakistan had got off to a disastrous start with left-arm pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi claiming Saim Ayub and Abdullah Shafique, both for nought, in the first over of the innings.
Farooqi finished with 2-19 in his four overs.
Shafique has now been dismissed for nought on four successive occasions in five T20Is since making his debut in November 2020.
Mohammad Haris hit a six and two boundaries in his nine-ball 15 while Tayyab Tahir scored a 23-ball 13.
The stockily built Azam Khan, who rose to fame with his power hitting in the recent Pakistan Super League, fell to spinner Rashid Khan, scoring just one after his nought in the first game.
Shadab, who is deputising for rested skipper Babar Azam, hit three boundaries in his 25-ball knock.
Imad's previous best of 47 had come against Sri Lanka in Lahore in 2019.
Match Stats
Pakistan Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Saim Ayub - 0.2 ov), 2-0 (Abdullah Shafique - 0.3 ov), 3-20 (Mohammad Haris - 3.3 ov), 4-60 (Tayyab Tahir - 9.5 ov), 5-63 (Azam Khan - 10.6 ov), 6-130 (Shadab Khan - 19.6 ov)
Afghanistan Fall of wickets: 1-30 (Usman Ghani - 3.6 ov), 2-86 (Rahmanullah Gurbaz - 15.3 ov), 3-102 (Ibrahim Zadran - 17.2 ov)
Playing XIs
Afghanistan - Usman Ghani, Rahmanullah Gurbaz(wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan(c), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq
Pakistan - Saim Ayub, Mohammad Nawaz, Abdullah Shafique, Tayyab Tahir, Shadab Khan(c), Azam Khan(wk), Muhammad Haris, Imad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Zaman Khan, Ihsanullah
Match Details:
Date:Sunday, March 26, 2023 17:00
Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Toss: Pakistan elected to bat
Officials Umpires: Ahmed Shah Pakteen(Afghanistan) Bismillah Jan Shinwari (Afghanistan) Akbar Ali (United Arab Emirates TV)
Match Referee: Hamim Khan (Afghanistan)
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