By PakPassion Staff (December 8th, 2013)

Toss: Afghanistan won the toss and chose to bat.

Teams:

Pakistan: 1. Sharjeel Khan, 2. Ahmed Shehzad, 3. Mohammad Hafeez (c), 4. Sohaib Maqsood, 5. Umar Amin, 6. Umar Akmal (wk), 7. Shahid Afridi, 8. Bilawal Bhatti, 9. Sohail Tanvir, 10. Junaid Khan, 11. Zulfiqar Babar

Afghanistan: 1. Mohammad Shahzad, 2. Nawroz Mangal, 3. Asghar Stanikzai, 4. Mohammad Nabi (c), 5. Mirwaiz Ashraf, 6. Hamid Hassan, 7. Samiullah Shenwari, 8. Dawlat Zadran, 9. Shapoor Zadran, 10. Najibullah Zadran, Gulbadin Naib

 

Afghanistan won the toss and, on a typically flat wicket in Sharjah, had no hesitancy in choosing to bat first. The best chance of victory was for the Associate team to apply themselves and post a challenging total, but that would have required some resolute batting. Mohammad Hafeez opened the bowling with with Sohail Tanvir against the tentative Afghanistan opening pair of Shahzad and Mangal.

It was Shahzad who fell to an innocuous looking delivery from Tanvir, with possibly the pressure of the occasion getting to the batsman. Mangal was then removed by a smart catch by Maqsood in the slips off the first ball by Zulfiqar Babar, who was then taken for runs by Stanikzai as he went on the charge. Bilawal Bhatti removed Stanikzai off the first ball of his spell and Shahid Afridi accounted for Mohammad Nabi, whilst Junaid took out an aggressive looking Shenwari. However, the wickets did not douse the aggressive batting which has become the hallmark of the Afghans.

Zadran and Shenwari proceeded to play shots with ease - sixes and fours were being hit with regularity and by the time the 15th over arrived, Afghanistan were 100 - a healthy run rate of 6.71 - which was worrying to Pakistan. Junaid Khan stepped in to end the fruitful partnership as he cleaned up Najibullah Zadran.

Naib joined Dawlat Zadran but didn't hang around for long as he was bowled by Tanvir, although the run rate was maintained at above 6.5 runs an over. Mirwaiz then launched a final assault on Pakistan but Dawlat Zadran could not provide support at the other end, as he was removed by Junaid Khan, who picked his 3rd wicket.

In the end, Afghanistan ended up with a respectable total, leaving Pakistan to chase 138 to win the game.


Fall Of Wickets

1-3 (Mohammad Shahzad, 1.1 ov), 
2-7 (Nawroz Mangal, 4.1 ov), 
3-29 (Asghar Stanikzai, 7.1 ov), 
4-64 (Mohammad Nabi, 10.3 ov), 
5-93 (Samiullah Shenwari, 13.3 ov), 
6-100 (Najibullah Zadran, 15.1 ov),
7-120 (Gulbadin Naib, 17.6 ov),
8-131 (Dawlat Zadran, 18.5 ov)

 

Pakistan started their innings in a circumspect manner, reaching 18 in 4 overs with the run rate slowly climbing. The Afghan ground fielding was very impressive and both openers were starting to feel the pressure. It wasn't too long though before Shehzad, who now was looking to dominate, was back to playing in his usual aggressive manner with his partner and debutant Sharjeel playing a calm hand. Shehzad, was the first one to depart as he tried to hit Shinwari out of the ground.

In came the Pakistan T20 captain Hafeez who himself was in need of runs after his recent struggles with the bat. Sharjeel at the other end had now started to play with some fluency and Pakistan were moving towards their target without any alarms. For Afghanistan, the only way to get back into the game was to take wickets, as scoreboard pressure would not be enough to contain Pakistan.

Sharjeel wasn't able to push on from his solid start however, departing having scored 18 off 16 balls. This brought in Umar Akmal and at the half way mark, Pakistan looked in control at 65/2 in the 10th over. There was a period of uncertainty in the following overs however, as the run rate slowly crept up to 8.7 runs an over. The Afghanistan team at this juncture were wondering if a historic victory was around the corner.

Umar Akmal then went into overdrive, bringing Pakistan to the brink of victory before he played a shot too many and was bowled via an inside edge. Sohaib Maqsood was run out and uncertainty seemed to be in the air as Afridi walked in. The final over saw Pakistan needing 6 runs off 6 balls. The game ended with a wide on the last ball of the final over, after the scores were tied and with Pakistan winning by 6 wickets.


Fall Of wickets

1-49 (Ahmed Shehzad, 7.4 ov),
2-64 (Sharjeel Khan, 9.4 ov),
3-111 (Umar Akmal, 16.2 ov), 
4-126 (Sohaib Maqsood, 18.4 ov)

 

An adequate performance by Pakistan but a little too close for comfort as the Afghans took the game to the last ball of the contest. For Pakistan, there are questions about their ability to bat under pressure but the debut of Sharjeel was a positive point. Pakistan can take some positives for the series against Sri Lanka but their batting will need to improve against stiffer opposition.

The first T20I against Sri Lanka takes place in Dubai

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