Dubai, Oct 29:Fightback from lower-order batters, Mohammad Nabi (35* off 32) and Gulbadin Naib (35* off 25), following a batting collapse helped Afghanistan post a defendable total of 147/6 against Pakistan in their Super 12 match of ICC T20 World Cup on Friday.
Afghans had to dig in deep to post a fighting total after Pakistan bowlers fired in unison to send half of the batting side back to the pavilion for just 64 runs by the 10th over. Imad Wasim picked two Afghan scalps while Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali, Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf grabbed a wicket apiece.
Opting to bat, Afghanistan lost four wickets inside the powerplay. Hazratullah Zazai (0 off 5) was the first to depart after he miscued left-arm spinner Wasim (2/25) to the fielder standing at the square-leg. Fellow opener Mohammad Shahzad (8 off 9) fell right after in the next over to Shaheen Afridi (1/22).
The fall of wicket had little bearing on Afghans batting approach as they did little to check their shots.
The side had to pay heavy price for that as Rahmanullah Gurbaz (10 off 7), Asghar Afghan (10 off 7), Karim Janat (15 off 17) perished in short intervals to leave Afghanistan in grave danger at 39/4.
Najibullah Zadran scored a quick 21-ball 22 to gain some momentum for the batting side but couldn’t consolidate on it and fell in the 13th over to Shadab (1/22).
Skipper Nabi then added 71 runs for the seventh wicket with Naib in the last seven overs to take Afghans to a respectable total. The duo showered nine fours and a towering six during the 43-ball partnership with Hasan Ali (1/38) conceding 21 runs in the 18th over.
UNI
