Pakistan defeated Afghanistan by 59 runs on Tuesday to win the first One-Day International (ODI) by 142 runs.
With this victory, the Men in Green have taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series being played in Sri Lanka. This is the home series for Afghanistan who cannot play international cricket in their country due to security concerns.
Haris Rauf picked up five wickets after Pakistan set Afghanistan a target of 202 runs and were bowled out for just 59 runs in 19.2 overs.
Afghanistan were bowled out for their second lowest score in ODIs.
It was Haris Rauf’s first five-wicket haul in Pakistan colors as he took 5-18 in 6.2 overs.
Shaheen took two wickets in two balls in his second over to set the tone for Pakistan during Afghanistan’s batting.
Naseem Shah and Shadab Khan took one wicket each.
Afghanistan’s opener Rehmanullah Garbaz was the highest run scorer with 18 runs.
Earlier in the first innings, Pakistan set a target of 202 runs to Afghanistan, thanks to Imamul Haq’s brilliant century and late Shadab Khan’s bravery.
Afghanistan’s bowlers rattled Pakistan’s top order on a brilliant spinning track. Fazlul Haque Farooqui picked up Fakhar Zaman in his very first over to send Pakistan immediately on the backfoot.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam, who is the number one ODI batsman, fell victim to Mujeebur Rahman’s spinning ball in the very next over.
Mohammad Rizwan and Imam stayed at the crease for a short while but they could only add 33 runs together. Mujeeb was the man who also got Rizwan (21) lbw which looked a bit suspicious and has raised questions on social media.
Iftikhar Ahmed, who usually plays the role of finisher in the team, was responsible for anchoring the score this time. He did it very well with Imam, who also completed his 17th ODI half-century in the process. The duo put on 50 for 69 to give Pakistan a breath of fresh air.
The right-handed smasher was dismissed after scoring 30 runs. That was when Rashid Khan came in and created a few chances against Iftikhar who eventually fell to Muhammad Nabi in the 27th over.
Rashid and Nabi took two wickets each in Afghanistan’s bowling.
Imam combined with Shadab to form the third partnership of the day. This time the two put on 40 runs together before Imam lost control against Nabi and took a catch at mid-on which was well taken by Rashid. Earlier, Imam, who survived two back-to-back drop catches, scored 61 runs off 94 balls.
Shadab then found himself supported by talent Naseem Shah, who had a nightmare for the Afghans in last year’s T20 Asia Cup. Naseem hit two consecutive sixes off the last two match-deciding balls of Fazlul Haq Farooqui to give Pakistan an incredible victory.
Naseem and Shadab scored 34 runs off 47 balls before Shadab was run out.
Rahmat Shah took Haris Rauf’s last wicket as Afghanistan dismissed Pakistan for the first time in ODIs.
Earlier, Pakistan won the toss and invited Afghanistan to bowl.
🚨 T O S S A L E R T 🚨
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) August 22, 2023
Pakistan win the toss and elect to bat first 🏏#AFGvPAK pic.twitter.com/G2MphaT01D
Playing XI
Pakistan: Imamul Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam(C), Mohammad Rizwan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Aga, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zardan, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Abdul Rehman, Ikram Ali.
