Dubai: Decidedly, Pakistan produced a clinical all-round performance to beat Afghanistan by five wickets in a super 12 match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, here on Friday.
With this, Pakistan completed a hat-trick of wins in the ongoing T20 World Cup. They are at the top of the points table in Group 2.
Nonetheless, Riding on fighting knocks by Mohammad Nabi (35 off 32) and Gulbadin Naib (35 off 25), Afghanistan posted a total of 147/6 in 20 overs. Apart from Nabi and Naib, Najibullah Zadran (22) and Karim Janat (15) also made important contributions with the bat for Afghanistan.
Imad Wasim was Pakistan’s standout bowler with two wickets for 25 runs. Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, and Shadab Khan bagged a wicket each.
Altogether, captain Babar Azam hit a fighting fifty (51 off 47). He helped Pakistan chase the target in 19 overs with five wickets in hand. Fakhar Zaman (30), Asif Ali (25) also played crucial knocks for Pakistan.
Brief scores:
Afghanistan 147 for 6 in 20 overs (Gulbadin 35, Mohammad Nabi 35; Imad Wasim 2/25) lost to Pakistan 148-5 in 19 overs (Babar Azam 51, Fakhar Zaman 30; Rashid Khan 2/26).
