Asia Cup 2022, PAK vs AFG: The battle to clinch the Asian title has intensified between India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka, but all these teams stand at different ends of the spectrum. Team Pakistan and Sri Lanka have won their opening Super 4 game whereas India has lost 2 out of their 3 games and now it will be interesting to see what Afghanistan wants to do in this particular match against arch-rivals Pakistan. More than Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Indian team and their fans will have their eyeballs glued to their respective screens. India's fate now rests upon how Pakistan decides to go about things. If the Babar Azam-led Pakistan side manages to win this game, India will be knocked out of the Asia Cup straightaway.
Babar Azam won the toss in Sharjah and decided to bowl first. This has been one particular pattern in the UAE. Teams win the toss and they straightaway decide to bowl. The pitch tends to get better under the lights and there is always a dew factor that comes into play. Mohammad Nabi, after he lost the toss was extremely clear about his plans and said that Afghanistan might go all guns blazing and might try to put a huge total on the board. Team Afghanistan started similarly. Openers Hazratullah Zazai and Rahmanullah Gurbaz got off to a flyer and Pakistan registered over 30 runs just in a span of 3 overs. Pakistan's Haris Rauf had some other plans in his mind as he claimed the first wicket of the match. Gurbaz's wicket was claimed by Rauf while he was batting on 17 off 11 deliveries. Zazai's stay too was shortened by Mohammad Hasnain who dismissed him while batting on 21.
Unfazed by the fall of wickets, Afghanistan still tried to carry on with their power-hitting, but Pakistan kept a check on the high-scoring rate by dismissing the opposition batsmen at regular intervals. Karim Janat scored 15 and Najibullah Zadran departed for 10 off 11 deliveries. Skipper Mohammad Nabi too couldn't make any notable contribution as he departed on a golden duck as he was dismissed by youngster Naseem Shah. Afghanistan tried to take on Shadab Khan but that didn't help their cause either. Somehow Ibrahim Zadran carried on till the time he was dismissed by Haris Rauf in the 17th over. Once the tail was in, Pakistan switched to their short-ball ploy, leaving the batsmen clueless and off-guard.
As Pakistan require 130 to win, Indian fans will have their fingers crossed and will root for Afghanistan so that India can have some respite for some time.
Teams:
Pakistan XI: Mohammad Rizwan(w), Babar Azam(c), Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah
Afghanistan XI: Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi(c), Karim Janat, Rashid Khan, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fareed Ahmad Malik, Fazalhaq Farooqi
