Pakistan 4-138 (Mohammad Hafeez 42*, Ahmed Shehzad 35, Mohammad Nabi 1-21) beat Afghanistan 8-137 (Najibullah Zardan 38, Mirwais Ashraf 28*, Junaid Khan 3-24, Sohail Tanvir 2-11) by six wickets.
The minnows of the cricket world, Afghanistan, fought well against the mighty Pakistani side who managed to win the match on the final delivery of the game.
Afghanistan scored 137 runs after losing eight wickets and Pakistan reached 138 with six wickets remaining in 19.5 overs.
Mohammad Hafeez (Pakistan) was declared ‘Player of the match’ for his all round performance.
The only Twenty20 was held on Sunday, December 8, 2013, at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Earlier, Mohammad Nabi, won the toss for Afghanistan and opted to bat first on a nice looking batting strip. They went down by two wickets for seven mere runs and the third batsman departed at 29. Mohammad Nabi joined in with Najibullah Zardan and they took the score to 64 before the first lost his wicket for 15. The latter tried to accelerate the run rate by hitting a few boundaries and became the sixth victim at 100 for 38. Mirwais Ashraf contributed 28 runs as Afghanistan reached 137 with two wickets remaining in 20 overs.
Junaid Khan was the top wicket taker with three wickets, Sohail Tanvir held two whereas Zulfiqar Babar, Bilawal Bhatti and Shahid Afridi shared one wicket each.
Ahmed Shehzad along with the debutant, Sharjeel Khan, got off to a reasonable start. The first was the most attacking of the two but surrendered his wicket at 49 for 35 with 6 fours. Sharjeel followed him 15 runs later for 18 as Umar Akmal and his skipper, Mohammad Hafeez, got together and kept the chase on.
Umar Akmal hit a couple of big sixes in the process while the partnership was dislodged at 111. He was gone for 28 whereas Mohammad Hafeez kept on securing his end as Afghanistan took the game to the last ball of the match. The captain remained unbeaten for 42 as the Green Shirts smashed 4-138 with the assistance of a wide ball in 19.5 overs and clinched the tight game.
Mohammad Nabi, Dawlat Zardan and Samiullah Shenwari were the only successful bowlers with one wicket each.
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