Twitter Reactions: Pakistan clean sweep Afghanistan after Mujeeb's blitzkrieg

Pakistan and Afghanistan squared off in the final game of the three-match ODI series in Colombo on Saturday, August 26.

By Adreej Kumar Mitra

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Afganistan vs Pakistan 1st ODI
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Afganistan vs Pakistan 1st ODI. (Photo Source: ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP via Getty Images)

Pakistan managed to decimate Afghanistan in the first ODI, winning by 142 runs. Hashmatullah Shahidi's men came back strongly to give the 'Men in Green' a run for their money in the second game. Naseem Shah's last-over heroics helped Pakistan eke out a one-wicket win with one ball to spare, successfully chasing a 301-run target.

With the series already in the bag, Pakistan opted to rest two of their key bowlers, Naseem and Haris Rauf for the third ODI which was played at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Iftikhar Ahmed and Usman Mir were also benched for this encounter. The in-form Saud Shakeel, and all-rounders Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, and Mohammad Wasim Jr were brought into the side.

Babar Azam won the toss and decided to bat first. Fakhar Zaman hit a flurry of boundaries before being dismissed for 27 off 33. The consistent Imam-ul-Haq also departed after a scratchy knock. Captain Babar (60 off 86) joined forces with Mohammad Rizwan (67 off 79) and formed a patient 110-run partnership off 144 balls. Both players took their time on a tricky surface and departed in their 60s.

Saud and Shadab couldn't get going as Pakistan slumped from 162/2 to 189/6. A handy 61-run partnership between Agha Salman and Nawaz helped Babar's men to set a challenging target of 269. Gulbadin Naib was the pick of the bowlers for Afghanistan as he dismissed the Pakistani openers, finishing with figures of 2/36 in nine overs.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman scores quickest half-century in ODIs for Afghanistan

In reply, the Pakistan new-ball bowlers Shaheen and Faheem bowled accurately and gave no freebies to the in-form opening duo of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Riaz Hassan. The wicketkeeper-batter couldn't repeat his heroics from the first ODI as he was dismissed by five off 15 balls by Faheem. Zadran, who was strangely demoted to No. 3 was out for a duck.

The Afghans lost the plot in their chase as they lost wickets at regular intervals to get to 97/7. Thereafter, Shahidullah Kamal and Mujeeb Ur Rahman formed an enterprising 57-run partnership before the former was dismissed for 37 by Shadab Khan. Mujeeb was sensational with the bat as he scored a career-high 64 in just 37 balls as he postponed the inevitable for a while. In the end, Pakistan won by 59 runs to complete the series sweep 3-0.

Here's how fans reacted to Pakistan's dominant series win over Afghanistan:

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Afghanistan v Pakistan in Sri Lanka 2023AfghanistanPakistanHashmatullah ShahidiMujeeb Ur RahmanBabar AzamAFGvPAKPAKvAFG