SHARJAH: Pakistan set a 183-run goal for Afghanistan after captain Salman Ali Agha’s resilient unbeaten 53 anchored the innings in first match of T20 worldwide tri-series at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday.
Pakistan captain Agha’s choice to bat first proved useful as his workforce’s batting unit yielded 182/7 of their allotted 20 overs.
The Inexperienced Shirts received off to a short flying begin to their innings as Sahibzada Farhan perished within the third over with 26 runs on the board. The correct-handed opener smashed one 4 and two sixes on his strategy to a 10-ball 21.
Skilled top-order batter Fakhar Zaman then joined Saim Ayub within the center, and so they put collectively an anchoring 29-run partnership for the second, which culminated with the latter’s dismissal off Rashid Khan within the seventh over.
Ayub scored a cautious 14 off 16 deliveries with the assistance of two boundaries.
Pakistan misplaced two extra wickets – Fakhar Zaman (20) and Hasan Nawaz (9) – in fast succession and consequently slipped to 83/4 in 11.1 overs.
Following the hunch, Agha and all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz launched a counterattack on momentum-filled Afghanistan bowlers and added 53 runs for the fifth wicket in simply 28 deliveries.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman ultimately broke the stand within the sixteenth over by eliminating Nawaz, who contributed with an 11-ball 21, that includes one 4 and two sixes.
Agha was then joined by wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Haris (15) for a 31-run partnership earlier than falling sufferer to Fareed Ahmad on the second supply of the ultimate over.
Salman Ali Agha remained the top-scorer for Pakistan with an unbeaten 53 off 36 deliveries, studded with three fours and as many sixes.
Fareed took two wickets for Afghanistan however was costly as he conceded 47 runs in his 4 overs, whereas Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid and Mujeeb made one scalp apiece.
The tri-series is being performed from August 29 to September 7 and is considered important preparation for the upcoming ACC Males’s T20 Asia Cup, set to happen within the UAE from September 9 to twenty-eight.
Initially, Pakistan was scheduled to host Afghanistan in a bilateral sequence in August.
Nevertheless, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) proposed changing it right into a tri-nation occasion and shifting it to the UAE to supply gamers with a possibility to adapt to native circumstances forward of the Asia Cup.
Traditionally, Pakistan and Afghanistan have confronted off seven instances in T20 Internationals. The boys in inexperienced has gained 4 matches, whereas Afghanistan has claimed victory in three.
‘Color-coded tickets separate Pakistan, Afghan supporters’
Sharjah Cricket Stadium is alive with pleasure forward of the Pakistan-Afghanistan T20 match, as followers collect in giant numbers and ticket gross sales proceed.
Afghan supporters seem in better numbers than Pakistani followers, whereas Indian cricket fans have additionally turned as much as again Afghanistan.
Organisers have arrange separate stands, pavilions, and entry routes for each units of followers. Even the tickets are colour-coded — inexperienced for Pakistan supporters and blue for Afghan followers.
Afghan supporters are optimistic about their workforce’s possibilities towards Pakistan. Regardless of the extreme Sharjah warmth, the fervour for cricket stays excessive among the many crowds.
Pakistan XI: Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Ali Agha (capt), Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Sufiyan Muqeem
Afghanistan XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Karim Janat, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan (capt), Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmed
