Shahidi knock in vain as Shoaib clinches Pakistan’s thrilling win
ABU DUBAI: Pakistan survived a scare to beat Afghanistan by three wickets in a Super Four tie in the Asia Cup on Friday. Shoaib Malik steered the chase and sealed victory with a six and four. He finished on 51 not out (43b, 3x4, 1x6) as Pakistan won with three balls to spare.
Afghanistan had looked like clinching their first win over Pakistan in only their third ODI meeting. Hashmatullah Shahidi’s unbeaten 97 was the cornerstone of their solid 257/6. Pakistan reached 258/7.
Shahidi’s (118b, 7x4) 94-run fourth wicket partnership with skipper Asghar Afghan, who hit 67 (56b, 2x4, 5x6), underlined Afghanistan’s batting resilience to go with their bowling led by spinner Rashid Khan (3/46). Shahidi followed it up by putting on 45 runs with Gulbadin Naib (10 no) off just 22 balls in the end.
Pakistan’s chase was led by opener Imam-ul Haq (80 – 104b, 5x4, 1x6) and Babar Azam (66 – 94b, 4x4, 1x6), who raised a 154run second wicket partnership after Fakhar Zaman was dismissed for nought. However, Imam was run out and four runs later, Rashid Khan had Babar Azam stumped, reducing the innings to 158/3 in the 36th over.
Shoaib took over death-over batting, and held one end up after skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed (8) was bowled off a Naib full toss. Needing 10 off the last over, he hit Aftab Alam for a six and four.
Brief scores: Afghanistan 257-6 in 50 overs (H Shahidi 97*, A Afghan 67, Nawaz 3-57) lost to Pakistan 258-7 in 49.3 overs (Imam 80, Babar 66, Shoaib 51*, Rashid 3-46) by 3 wickets