Desk Reports :
Haris Rauf took a single off the last ball by pushing Azmatullah Omarzai to long off. Pakistan could only reduce the margin of defeat with this single from Haris. On the other hand, the Afghans took sweet revenge by winning by 18 runs. Whereas the Afghans started the tri-nation T20 series by 39 runs against Pakistan in Sharjah on August 29.
Afghanistan won the toss last night in Sharjah and elected to bat first and scored 169 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in 20 overs. Chasing a target of 170 runs, the Afghans started to look with envy at the whirlwind of Noor Ahmed and Rashid Khan. Pakistan became 113 for 9 wickets in 17 overs. Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Nawaz and Mohammad Nawaz were caught on the edge of the boundary while playing big shots. For the last wicket, Haris Rauf-Sufian Mukim made an unbreakable partnership of 40 runs in 18 balls and saved Pakistan’s face.
Ramiz Raja has lashed out at Pakistan, who lost to Afghanistan by 18 runs yesterday. On his YouTube channel, Ramiz said, “Afghanistan won the match by 18 runs. In fact, they (Afghans) had already secured victory. Because, the Pakistani batters got out after settling on the wicket. One or two cricketers did not give away wickets. In fact, no one learned from their mistakes. This time they have discovered a strange way to get out. I do not understand.”
In May this year, the United Arab Emirates won in Sharjah by chasing 206 runs given by Bangladesh. This is the record for the highest run chase in T20 Internationals so far. Despite getting 36 runs less than that yesterday, Pakistan could not win mainly due to the failure of the batters. Haris remained unbeaten on 34 runs in the innings. Coming in at number 10, he hit 4 sixes in a 16-ball innings. Among the recognized batters, Fakhar and Salman Ali Agha scored 25 and 20 runs.
Ramiz blamed Pakistan’s batsmen for the loss to the Afghans. According to him, if the recognized batsmen in T20s cannot build up the innings after settling down, then it is a ‘crime’. The former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) president said, ‘It is a 170-run pitch. Nothing more. The Sharjah pitch behaves a little differently. But if someone plays such shots with the mentality of getting out, plays an innings of 10-15-20-25 runs, then it is impossible to win the match.’
Ibrahim Zadran was named man of the match in the 18-run win against Pakistan. The Afghan batsman played an innings of 65 runs off 45 balls with 8 fours and 1 six. Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored the second highest 64 runs. He also played 45 balls. Afghanistan has advanced a lot towards the final of the tri-nation series with two consecutive wins. Both Pakistan and Afghanistan have played three matches each. Both teams have 4 points. Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates played two matches and failed to win a single one.
