Asif Iqbal
Srinagar: Underdogs Afghanistan has pulled up another major upset this time by defeating team Pakistan after trouncing defending champions England in its last encounter.
Pakistan which won toss opted to bat first. The Men in Green had a steady start with Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq. Heavily relying on its spin attack spin trionka – Mujeeb ur Rehman, Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad – it however was Azmatullah Omerzai who drew the first blood for his team in the form of Imam-ul-Haq.
The man in form Mohammad Rizwan couldn’t do much as he was out for just 8 runs. Rizwan was followed by set batter Abdullah Shafique. Saud Shakeel and Captain Babar Azam started rebuilding the innings, but the partnership didn’t last long as Saud went to pavilion after scoring 25 runs.
Babar Azam, who has been under fire from critics for his poor form for quite a while now, stood solid to score steady 74 runs.
It nonetheless were the late innings exploits from Iftikhar Ahmad and Shadab, who not only took the team beyond 250 run mark, but well beyond that to give their bowlers something to defend.
However, the Afghanistan led by power batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz had some other plans up the sleeves – Gurbaz alongside Ibrahim Zadran flayed the otherwise fierce bowling attack. The duo added 130 runs for first wicket, to help the upcoming batters to play a calm game.
Chennai, otherwise known to be a spin-friendly track, had nothing to offer for the Pakistan spinners which included Shadab Khan, Usama Mir and Iftikhar Ahmad.
As if Gurbaz and Ibrahim had wounded the Pakistan some less, that Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shah did the rest to take their team across the line.
With this win, the Afghanistan has thrown an open challenge to other teams. The team Pakistan with three consecutive losses out of the five it has played so far has bleak chances to qualify for semis.
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