Pakistan went three in three in the T20 World Cup 2021 on Friday, securing their victory over Afghanistan in the Super 12 Group 2 encounter in Dubai. They kept their Asian counterparts at bay and won by five wickets despite a slightly nervy second half.
Chasing a target of 148, Pakistan had powerhitter Asif Ali ending the contest in the 19th over with as many as four sixes in his late blitz of 25* off seven balls. But before he went bang-bang, there was an air of tension in the chase as Pakistan had just lost their skipper Babar Azam after a half-century (51 off 47) of great significance, if not too much flow at times.
Babar had seen the early departure of his opening partner Mohammed Rizwan (8), and thus, the great anchor focused on averting risks and batting deep into the innings. Within his effort, Babar was looking to up the gear when Fakhar Zaman batted nicely with him for his 25-ball 30.
But once Fakhar fell, and he was followed soon by Mohammed Hafeez (10), the Pakistan skipper had to go back in his shell a little bit. Losing Babar at that stage would’ve given Afghanistan a foot in the door. So, even as the asking rate went up to eight and beyond, Babar retained his ways and waited to unleash his big strokes till the end.
However, that didn’t happen as he was done in by a googly from Rashid Khan (2/26) at the end of the 17th over. But then Asif’s flurry of sixes and another short but significant hand from Shoaib Malik (19) took Pakistan home.
For Afghanistan, struggles with the bat and lack of depth in the pace department eventually came back to haunt them. They were 76/6 in the first half at one stage, as interestingly, all of their top six batters looked in a hurry to hit big from the very beginning of their respective innings.
It was a highlight reel of sorts because either Afghanistan batters got a four or a six, or they faced a string of dot balls that piled on the pressure, which meant that they had to take greater risks just to keep the scoreboard moving and lost wickets in the process.
Thankfully for them, experienced gents Gulbadin Naib and skipper Mohammad Nabi came to the party and stitched a stand that shall act as a learning base for the rest of the Afghan batters. The duo not only secured timely boundaries but also made every opportunity to rotate the strike count. Naib scored an unbeaten 35 off 25, while Nabi made 35 not out off 32 balls.
Shaheen Afridi (1/22) was magnificent once again for Pakistan. But the inability of the top 6-7 Afghan batters to rotate strike against spinners Imad Wasim (2/25) and Shadab Khan (1/22) meant that, despite the Naib-Nabi partnership, they finished about 20 runs short.
And that also meant hardly any pressure of the total for Rashid, as well as Mujeeb Ur Rahman (1/14) and Nabi (1/36), to exert on Pakistan batters in the second half. Had the score been in excess of 165-170, Babar & co would’ve been forced to take extra risks against Afghanistan’s great spin trio.
On the pace front, Naveen-ul-Haq (1/22) still bowled reasonably well for his side, but Karim Jamat (0/48) proved to be a letdown, especially at the death when he bowled to Asif. Earlier as well, the frequent boundaries that he and even Naveen conceded meant that the pressure was off Babar and company the moment they played out any of the spinners.
Brief scores
Afghanistan 147/6 in 20 overs (Naib 35*, Nabi 35*; Afridi 1/22) lost to Pakistan 148/5 in 19 overs (Azam 51, Zaman 30; Khan 2/26) by 5 wickets
