T20 World Cup 2021: Match 24, Pakistan vs Afghanistan – Who Said What

Continuing their scalding run of form, Pakistan crossed the victory line again to record a hat-trick of Super12 round wins in what looks like an enviable campaign now. For the second game in a row, they were rescued by an Asif Ali blinder lower in the order that changed the course of the game in no time.

Set 148 for a win, Pakistan were placed in a tricky situation, needing 24 from the last two overs. Thanks to Ali, they did that with six balls to spare. Following his unbeaten 12-ball 27 against New Zealand that dragged his team out of a spot of trouble, Ali belted four sixes off Karim Janat in his unbeaten 7-ball 25 tonight.

However, plenty of credit was due to Babar Azam’s composed knock under pressure that led to his team’s recovery after the early fall of Mohammad Rizwan, who was undone by Mujeeb ur Rahman inside the powerplay. Azam, who relied on strike rotation in his calculated 47-ball 51, with only 16 runs coming in boundaries, was well-assisted by Fakhar Zaman, as the duo added 63 for the second wicket, negotiating the impressive Mujeeb-Nabi-Rashid trio.

Skipper Nabi, however, was expensive on the night, leaking 36 in his four overs, although it was him who was responsible to break the Azam-Zaman stand as he pinned Zaman lbw for 30 off 25. Pakistan never truly cruised in the chase but remained in control throughout. That was jeopardized when Rashid Khan dismissed Mohammad Hafeez to become the quickest to 100 T20I scalps and returned to clean up the well-set Azam.

Shoaib Malik, it seemed, would emulate his performance against New Zealand, as he struck Rashid for a six but Afghanistan’s hopes increased when Naveen ul Haq had him caught for 19 off 15. Much to Nabi’s men’s misfortune, Asif Ali happened.

Earlier, Afghanistan themselves made recovery courtesy of a record 71-run stand for the seventh wicket between Nabi and Gulbadin Naib after Pakistan bowlers had kept them in the shackles for the majority of their outing with the bat. Afghanistan lost their top-four inside the powerplay, with openers Hazratullah Zazai and Mohammad Shahzad walking back for single-digit scores. No. 3 Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Asghar Afghan, too, had not much to give their team on the night, as they fell for an identical 10 off 7.

Imad Wasim, who removed Zazai in his opening over, finished 2/25, while each one in Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali and Shadab Khan picked a wicket each. Najibullah Zadran tried to counterattack, hitting three fours and a six in his 21-ball 22 but Shadab removed him 13th over. Nabi struck five fours in his 35 off 32, playing the second fiddle to Naib, whose 25-ball 35, including one six and four boundaries took Afghanistan past 140. However, that much did not prove sufficient eventually.

Losing skipper Mohammad Nabi:

We didn’t start well but the total on the board was a decent one for this pitch. We discussed that 150 would be a good score and so we dug deep. And then got some runs in the last few overs. I think three spinners are enough. Rashid bowled at the right time and we tried to take the game deep. Asif Ali played really well in the 19th over. Lot of positives from today’s game. We fought really well till the end.

Winning skipper Babar Azam:

We started well with the ball, got a lot of wickets like we planned. Maybe gave away 10-15 runs too many at the end. With the bat, we couldn’t capitalise the powerplay as we wanted to. At the end, with Malik and Asif Ali, we knew they could do the job. He (Asif Ali) is known for this and I was confident pre-tournament itself that he would deliver when needed. We planned our strategies well with the ball, and also ensured that he kept the uneven boundary dimensions in mind while bowling. Spinners were getting some grip from the track, Afghanistan have quality bowlers too and I was trying to take it as deep as possible. Unfortunately I couldn’t finish things off but credit to Asif Ali.

Player of the Match Asif Ali:

I would like to congratulate the Pakistan team and all our fans. I was confident of finishing it off from this end and that’s what I told Shoaib Malik before he got out. I look at the situation of the match, and I target the bowlers accordingly. I was talking to Shoaib when I walked in to bat and I told him that I was confident enough of getting 20-25 in one over against Karim Janat, which I did.