In the second match of the three-match T20 series between Afghanistan and Pakistan played in Sharjah, Afghanistan defeated Pakistan by 7 wickets in a thrilling manner and took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.
Batting first, Pakistan scored 130 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in 20 overs, in reply to which Afghanistan scored 133 runs for the loss of 3 wickets with one ball to spare.
Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat first but the team had a very bad start. Saim Ayub could not even open his account. Abdullah Shafique, who came after him, could not even open his account and made a record of getting out for 0 consecutive times in the last four T20 innings.
Mohammad Haris scored 15 runs in 9 balls and was dismissed when team’s total was on 20 runs. Tayyab Tahir became the victim of Karim Janat on a personal score of 13. Azam Khan scored just 1 run and was dismissed when the team’s total was 63 as the fifth wicket.
From here, Imad Wasim and captain Shadab Khan took the lead and shared a half-century partnership to take the score to 130. Shadab got out after scoring 32 runs. Wasim managed to score a half-century and played an unbeaten inning of 64 runs. Fazalhaq Farooqi took the maximum two wickets for Afghanistan.
Chasing the target, Afghanistan got a 30-run start. Usman Ghani became the victim of Zaman Khan by scoring 7 runs. Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored quick runs in the beginning but his innings also slowed down in the middle and he was dismissed when the team’s total was was on 86 runs after scoring 44 runs in 49 balls.
38 runs came from the bat of Ibrahim Zadran. Pakistan bowlers bowled well in the middle overs and Afghanistan looked to be in trouble but Naseem Shah spent 17 runs in the 19th over of the innings and turned the match. In the last over, Afghanistan scored the required 5 runs to win and won the match. Najibullah Zadran 23 and Mohammad Nabi played unbeaten innings of 14 runs and Afghanistan took a 2-0 unassailable lead in the series.
