Pakistan snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat today, winning by just one wicket in a final over thriller at Sharjah against a fighting Afghanistan side in this Asia Cup 2022.
Chasing a target of 130 to win, Pakistan was struggling at 97/5 after 16.2 overs. It seemed like Afghanistan were on their way to a sensational victory, but Pakistan had other ideas.
With just 11 runs needed from the final over, Pakistan’s tailenders Scored the runs needed to win in a tense finish.
The youngstar Naseem Shah was the man who hit the two sixes in two balls of the final over to secure a dramatic victory.
While asking about the winnings runs, Naseem Shah said when he came in to bat, he had the belief he could hit sixes. He referred he practiced a lot as he assumed they would bowl yorkers.
In a low scoring match, Shadab Khan was the highest run scorer for Pakistan scoring 36 runs in 22 balls. This performance has brought him the Player of the Match award.
In this match, Babar Azam also disappointed his fans as he was dismissed for a golden duck.
Despite Shadab’s all-round performnce, the Afghan team pulled through with some tight bowling at the end. Fazalhaq Farooqi and Fareed Ahmad bagged three wickets each for Afghanistan.
According to the Sport News BD experts, the Afghanistan team put up a brave fight, but in the end, Pakistan came out on top.
This is a huge win for Pakistan, and it will undoubtedly give them a boost of confidence heading into the final of the tournament.
Here is what Babar said at post match presentation: “At the back of the mind, I thought this is T20 cricket, and I have seen Naseem bat like this, so I had a little bit of belief. This reminded me of Javed Miandad’s six in Sharjah.”