Adding salt to their injury, Afghanistan inched Pakistan by three wickets in a last over thriller on Friday, sending a strong message to rest of the teams before the starting of the mega event, the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. The match was played at the County Ground in Bristol.
Batting first, Pakistan got all out at 262 on a pitch which seemed to be 300 plus. A fine knock of 112 by Babar Azam helped Pakistan’s cause. From Afghanistan’s side, Mohammad Nabi was the cynosure of all eyes, scalping three wickets, including two in an over.
During the chase, Afghanistan came all guns blazing with the likes of Mohammad Shehzad (23, retired hurt), Hazratullah Zazai (49) and Rahmat Shah (32), and scored 80 runs in just 11 overs. However, Pakistan showed some character in the eleventh hour, courtesy some high-quality fast bowling by Wahab Riaz (3/46) in his second spell. But a gritty 74 not out by Hasmatullah Shahidi foiled Pakistan’s late efforts and helped the Afghans win the match.
This victory will boost Afghanistan’s confidence as the no. 10 ranked ODI side — believed to be one the weakest sides this World Cup — have made a statement that fighting them won’t be cake walk.
On the other hand, this loss will further take down Pakistan’s morale — who recently suffered a crushing 4-0 ODI series defeat at the hands of Englishmen.
For the record, Pakistan lost the warm-up match to a ‘weak’ Sri Lanka in 1992, the year they were crowned World Cup champions.