Afghanistan were eliminated by Pakistan, after losing their second Super 4 encounter of Asia Cup 2022 by a wicket, at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah, on Wednesday. Earlier they had lost to Sri Lanka in their first Super 4 match.
After two losses in the Super 4 stage, Afghanistan are out of the tournament but they managed to put a great show in both the encounters. On Wednesday, Afghan players gave 130 runs to chase and in its reply Pakistan reached 131 for nine in 19.2 overs, with Shadab Khan’s handy knock of 36 runs off 26 balls.
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The match was taken to the last over as Pakistan needed 12 runs with only one wicket in hand. The match came to a thrilling point but Naseem Shah (14*) maintained his calm in the tense situation and hit back-to-back sixes against Fazalhaq Farooqi to take Pakistan into the final, where they will face Sri Lanka.
Farooqi was in a good form during the match but his execution couldn’t find results in the last over as his balls didn’t fall in place at all. After the match, the Afghan cricketers were seen disappointed and quite a few of them were spotted emotionally crying on the field as well.
The video went viral on social media, who then lended their support to the Afghanistan team. Here is a video of Afghanistan players’ tearful reaction after their defeat to Pakistan:
— Guess Karo (@KuchNahiUkhada) September 8, 2022
The Afghan bowlers were in good form with Farooqi and Fareed Ahmad taking three wickets each. Along with them, Rashid Khan also contributed significantly as he bagged two dismissals.
Thought Afghan batters didn’t put up a huge score as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals but Ibrahim Zadran played a crucial knock of 35 runs off 37 balls which helped Afghanistan post 129 for six in 20 overs, with Haris Rauf taking two wickets for Pakistan.
In the post-match ceremony, Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi, who was dismissed for a golden duck, said that the team fought well and managed to keep the match tight even after putting a low score.
“Yes the bowling and the fielding was brilliant, but we didn’t finish well and we didn’t hold our nerves. We didn’t leave the game at any stage. The boys fought on every ball. Again, it was the end, both with the bat and with the ball. We thought that we chased well against Bangladesh. We knew it would be tough chasing 130 here, and that’s why we looked to bowl dot balls. We didn’t give easy singles”, he said.
“The plan on the last two deliveries was to bowl slower bouncers or bowl yorkers, but he (Farooqi) didn’t execute his plans. We will try our best to play the last game with the same energy. We have a game tomorrow now. Thanks for the support, it was lovely from the fans here”, he further added.
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