Pakistan went down to Afghanistan in the second match of the three-match T20I series on Sunday (March 26). With this win, Afghanistan also sealed their first ever series win in any format over the Men in Green. For the second time in a row, Pakistan's batting didn't click in the absence of their key players Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. Among those, Azam Khan came under severe scrutiny of a fan who was livid with the cricketer during the second T20I.
Azam Khan came out to bat number six with his team tottering at 60/4. But he couldn't trouble the scorers much scoring only 1 run and Pakistan sinked even further. After his dismissal, a fan was seen livid with the wicketkeeper-batter over his failure. Moreover, the fan was also seen bodyshaming Azam Khan with his gesture even as the fans around were disappointed with Pakistan's position in the match. For the unversed, Azam Khan had got out for a duck in the first T20I and his miseries only compounded after getting out for just 1 run in the previous game.
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As for the match, Pakistan opted to bat first after winning the toss only to lose two wickets in the first over itself. Both Saim Ayub and Abdullah Shafique bagged ducks and didn't recover until the end. It was due to Imad Wasim's unbeaten 64 off 57 deliveries with 3 fours and 2 sixes that the Men in Green were able to post at least a respectable total of 130 runs for the loss of six wickets in their 20 overs. Shadab Khan also led from the front with the bat mustering 32 runs. Fazalhaq Farooqi was the best bowler picking up 2/19 in his four overs including a maiden.
It wasn't an easy chase by any means for Afghanistan. But their top order batters Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran stuck it out in the middle to score 44 runs and 38 runs. Things got close at the end, but the duo Mohammad Nabi and Najibullah Zadran were the right men in the middle for Afghanistan who got them over the line with one ball to spare.
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