Tag: Asia Cup

DUBAI: India’s veteran batter Virat Kohli broke the shackles as he brought up his much-awaited 71st century in the Asia Cup Super Four dead rubber against Afghanistan before right-arm pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar decimated the Afghan batting line-up and powered the side to a massive 101-run victory.

Set to chase a mammoth 213, Afghanistan’s batting line-up failed completely and could only score 111/8 in the allotted 20 overs despite Ibrahim Zadran top-scoring with a gritty knock of 64 runs off 59 balls including four boundaries and two sixes.

Besides Ibrahim, only Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman get into the double figures in the run chase while the rest of the batters failed in their last match of Asia Cup 2022.

Bhuvneshwar was the pick of the bowlers for India as he bagged five wickets for a mere four runs, while Arshdeep Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Deepak Hooda made one scalp each.

At the toss, Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi invited India to bat first after the coin flipped in his favour.

His decision, however, did not seem to go well for his side as India’s new opening pair of Kohli and interim captain KL Rahul targeted the Afghan bowlers and scored at a blistering rate.

The duo appeared solid and were looking firm as both have amassed half-centuries before Fareed Ahmad struck in the 13th over to hand Afghanistan a much-needed breakthrough as he removed Rahul for 62.

The right-handed batter faced 41 deliveries and smashed eight boundaries including two sixes.

India’s top batter Suryakumar Yadav had a forgetful outing with the bat as he could score six runs off two deliveries and caused India to slip to 125/2 in 13 overs.

Following the slump, Kohli shifted the momentum into India’s favour as he joined hands with wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant and put on an unbeaten 87-run partnership for the third wicket.

The partnership remained majorly dominated by the right-handed batter as Pant could contribute 20.

Kohli, on the other hand, scored for India with a quickfire 122 off 61 deliveries, laced with 12 boundaries and six sixes.

The right-handed batter ended his century drought with his first in the shortest format of the game and 71st overall.

Fareed remained the pick of the bowlers for Afghanistan as he bagged the only two wickets, while the rest of the bowlers went wicketless.

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SHARJAH: Pakistan team batting coach Muhammad Yousuf lauded the young pacer, Naseem Shah, for his heroic batting effort in the Asia Cup game against Afghanistan on Wednesday, calling his two match-winning sixes in the final over the best shots of his career. 

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, the national team’s batting coach stated that the sixes hit by Naseem Shah were as memorable as Miandad’s final ball six in Sharjah in 1986 against India.

“We had started batting practice of Naseem at the academy two years ago and last night he gave a positive response to that and showcased a magnificent display of batting,” he said.

“When a player plays according to the situation it benefits the team and it benefits him as well. Those two shots by Naseem will be the best shot of his career” he added.

“The sixes were monumental. Might not be as historic as Miandad’s six since it was against India, however, if we look at the situation that we were into, those sixes are definitely memorable,” he added.

Talking about Babar’s dismal run with the bat in the ongoing Asia Cup, Yousuf said that there was nothing with his form or technique it was just hard luck.

“Babar is a world-class player. It’s not unusual that sometimes you try to give the best performance but still get out early,” he said.

He is not undergoing a rough phase or anything like that, it’s just the luck which is not in his favour.” he added

“The way he is playing his shots and the way he middles the ball it cannot be said that he is out-of-form, It is just the bad luck,” he said. “A top performer like Babar cannot fail if he sticks to the basics and continues to play with the right technique”

While opining on Rizwan’s sublime form in the tournament, Yousuf praised the fighting spirit of the No.1 T20I batter of the world.

“Rizwan battles for the team. Despite getting hurt in the match against India he was running enthusiastically between the wicket during the batting,” he concluded.

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan edged past Afghanistan in a final-over nail-biter courtesy of two astounding sixes from Pakistan pacer Naseem that powered the side into the final of Asia Cup 2022.

READ: Pakistan to face Afghanistan, England in warm-up fixtures of T20 WC

SHARJAH: Pakistan’s hero of the all-important Super Four clash against Afghanistan – Naseem Shah said that people forgot that he is also a bowler.

Naseem, who smashed two sixes on the first two deliveries of the final over against Afghanistan and powered Pakistan into the final of the Asia Cup 2022 interacted with presenter Ravi Shastri and said that he was confident to win the match as he practised a lot in the nets.

“There was full confidence that we can win this match. We practice in the net, so we were confident that we would achieve the target,” said Naseem.

The speedster then went on to claim that his Afghanistan counterpart Fazalhaq Farooqi would bowl the yorkers and had full faith in himself for hitting those sixes.

“I knew the bowler would try to go for a yorker and was confident I could hit sixes. So, I tried and it paid off,” he stated.

Naseem then went on to reveal that he exchanged his bat with Mohammad Hasnain after Asif Ali’s dismissal in the 19th over and was confident that he will win it for Pakistan.

“After Asif Ali got out, I went to Hasnain and changed the bat, I had practised and was confident that we would be able to do it,” Naseem shared.

The right-handed batter then humorously said that after hitting those two sixes people have forgotten that he is also a bowler.

“Now people have forgotten that I am also a bowler,” he concluded.

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan edged past Afghanistan in a final-over nail-biter courtesy of two astounding sixes from Pakistan pacer Naseem that powered the side into the final of Asia Cup 2022.

READ: ‘Naseem’s sixes remind us of Shahid Afridi’ says Shadab Khan 

SHARJAH: Pakistan pacer Naseem Shah held his nerves calm in a tense run chase and smashed consecutive sixes to power his side over the line and into the final of the Asia Cup 2022.

Set to chase 130, Afghanistan bowlers made it hard for Pakistan but Naseem smashed two sixes on the first two deliveries of the final over to power the Green Shirts into the final of the continental event.

The men in green were off to a dismal start to their run chase as their captain Babar Azam perished for a golden duck in the first over, while top-order batter Fakhar Zaman also made his way back to the pavilion in the fifth over for a mere five.

World No.1 batter Mohammad Rizwan and all-rounder Iftikhar Ahmed then attempted to script recovery for Pakistan as the duo added a crucial 27 runs for the third wicket before Rashid Khan trapped the top batter for 20 and Pakistan, as a result, slipped to 45/3 in the ninth over.

Following his departure, Iftikhar then joined hands with vice-captain Shadab Khan and added the highest partnership of 42 runs in the run chase before the former fell while attempting to shift the momentum. He scored 30 off 33 deliveries.

Shadab, however, who was scoring at a rapid pace fell in the next over after top-scoring for Pakistan with 36 in the next over. He faced 26 deliveries and smashed four boundaries including three sixes.

The side then ran into a frustrating collapse and soon slipped to 119/9 in 19 overs as Asif Ali also perished after hitting a six off Fareed Ahmad and scored an important 16 in a tense chase.

Naseem then stole the show with two blistering hits on the first two delivery of the final over and guided Pakistan to an astonishing victory.

Following the victory, both Pakistan and Sri Lanka qualified for the final while India and Afghanistan crashed out of the tournament.

Fazalhaq Farooqi and Fareed were the picks of the bowlers for Afghanistan as they bagged three each, while Rashid made two scalps.

Afghanistan, after being put into bat first by Pakistan captain Babar Azam, had a flying start to their inning as openers Hazratullah Zazai and Rahmanullah Guzrbaz attacked Pakistan bowlers with blistering hitting.

The appeared solid appeared and was dealing in boundaries till the fourth over before Pakistan speedster Haris Rauf castled Gurbaz for 17.

Following Gurbaz’s departure, his partner Zazai also fell soon after in the next over as Mohammad Hasnain outdid him with a slower delivery. The left-handed batter scored 21 off 17 deliveries.

Karim Janat and Ibrahim Zadran then anchored the inning briefly with their 35-run partnership for the third wicket.

Ibrahim was looking impressive amid the stand and was scoring more efficiently, while Janat, who was struggling to get going, perished in the 12th over after scoring a snail-paced 15.

Following his dismissal, Afghanistan began to lose wickets at an alarming rate and soon slipped to 91/5 in the 15th over with their captain Mohammad Nabi being the latest casualty after bagging a golden duck off Naseem Shah.

Afghanistan top-scorer Ibrahim also fell victim to the strong Pakistan bowling attack in the 17th over as the extra bounce and pace stunned the right-handed batter. He scored 35 off 37 deliveries, laced with two boundaries and a six.

Following the slump, all-rounder Rashid Khan stood up for his team and scored an important 18 off just 10 deliveries and bolstered his side to finish at 129/6 in the allotted 20 overs.

Haris led the bowling attack for Pakistan with two wickets, while Naseem, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, and Mohammad Hasnain struck out a batter each.

Pakistan pacer Naseem Shah held his nerves calm in a tense run chase and smashed consecutive sixes to power his side over the line and into the final of the Asia Cup 2022.

PAK 131/9 (19.2 Overs)

Pakistan need 11 runs with one wicket in hand. Fareed to bowl the final over

PAK 119/9 (19 Overs)

Farooqi comes to bowl his last

PAK 109/7 (18 Overs)

17.1: It’s the off-cutter. Pitches on off, and nips in. The batter looks to work this onside and looks to have been struck in front of off on the back foot.

Farooqi comes to bowl his last

PAK 105-5 (17 Overs)

16.2: Again tossed up outside off – brave from Rashid considering the result last ball – but this time it’s the leg spinner. Shadab looks to smash this down towards long-off, but only manages a thick looping outside edge to short third man

Rashid comes to bowl his last

PAK 91-4 (16 Overs)

15.3: Short and pulled straight into gleeful hands of deep midwicket! This was the slower ball, and it sounded clean off Iftikhar’s bat, but he just couldn’t get the distance.

Fareed continues

PAK 85-3 (15 Overs)

Rashid comes again

PAK 82-3 (14 Overs)

Fareed comes back

PAK 79-3 (13 Overs)

Mujeeb comes to bowl his last

PAK 72-3 (12 Overs)

Nabi comes again

PAK 58-3 (11 Overs)

Azmatullah Omarzai comes into the attack

PAK 52-3 (10 Overs)

Nabi continues

PAK 48-3 (9 Overs)

8.4: Another googly from Rashid, pitching outside off and hurrying the batter. Rizwan was on the back foot, looking to flick it but missed and was struck in front of the middle.

Rashid continues

PAK 43-2 (8 Overs)

Mohammad Nabi comes into the attack

PAK 39-2 (7 Overs)

Rashid Khan comes into the attack

PAK 35-2 (6 Overs)

Mujeeb comes to bowl his third

PAK 32-2 (5 Overs)

Fareed Ahmad comes into the attack

PAK 20-2 (4 Overs)

3.1: Full length around off, drops it towards extra cover and sets off. Najibullah charges at the ball, swoops low, picks it up with his right, turns around and nails a direct hit at the bowler’s end… and Fakhar is short of his ground.

Mujeeb continues

PAK 18-1 (3 Overs)

Farooqi continues

PAK 8-1 (2 Overs)

Mujeeb Ur Rahman to bowl from the other end

PAK 6-1 (1 Over)

0.2: A length ball, pitching around middle and just straightening to beat the inside edge and hit on the front pad.

Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan come out to chase for Pakistan. Fazalhaq Farooqi opens the bowling attack for Afghanistan.

PAKISTAN vs AFGHANISTAN (2nd INNING)

Pakistan bowlers displayed combined effort and decimated Afghanistan batting line-up as the Men in Green reduced Afghanistan to 129/6 in the allotted 20 overs of the all-important Super Four clash of Asia Cup 2022.

AFG 129-6 (20 Overs)

Haris to bowl the final over

AFG 119-6 (19 Overs)

Naseem comes to bowl his last

AFG 113-6 (18 Overs)

Hasnain comes to bowl his last

AFG 105-6 (17 Overs)

16.3: This is back of a length, quick and rushes Ibrahim who is looking to punch this down the ground off the back foot. The extra bounce surprises him though, and he can only manage a thick edge through to Rizwan.

Haris comes into the attack

AFG 104-5 (16 Overs)

Shadab comes to bowl his last

AFG 93-5 (15 Overs)

14.1: This is chopped on, as Nabi just hangs his bat out to this back of a length delivery in the channel. The ball crashes into the base of the stumps off the inside edge.

Naseem comes back into the attack

AFG 91/4 (14 Overs)

13.6: This is the pick of the punch as it’s quicker, seam up, and Zadran is unable to get the distance on this loft over long-on. It goes high, but straight down the gullet of the man in the deep.

Shadab comes back

AFG 83-3 (13 Overs)

Hasnain replaces Haris

AFG 79-3 (12 Overs)

11.2: This is high and straight down the throat of Fakar at long-on! The pressure has paid off, as Janat looks for the big slog sweep against the spin, but only ends up top-edging this high into the Sharjah sky.

Nawaz comes to bowl his last

AFG 77-2 (11 Overs)

Haris comes back into the attack

AFG 72-2 (10 Overs)

Nawaz comes to bowl his third

AFG 64-2 (9 Overs)

Shadab comes again

AFG 61-2 (8 Overs)

Nawaz continues

AFG 53-2 (7 Overs)

Shadab Khan replaces Hasnain

AFG 48-2 (6 Overs)

Mohammad Nawaz replaces Haris

AFG 43-2 (5 Overs)

4.5: A length ball around off and middle, bowled at 119kph. Zazai failed to spot it early, and ended up pushing at it to work it towards short midwicket. But the ball sneaked through the gap between bat and pad to uproot the leg stump.

Hasnain comes back

AFG 37-1 (4 Overs)

3.5: A length ball at 144kph, pitching around off and slightly coming in with the angle. Gurbaz moves across and looks to smash through midwicket. No contact and the ball crashes into the off stump.

Haris Rauf comes into the attack

AFG 27-0 (3 Overs)

Naseem continues

AFG 20-0 (2 Overs)

Mohammad Hasnain to bowl from the other end

AFG 4-0 (1 Over)

Hazratullah Zazai and Rahmanullah Gurbaz come out to bat for Afghanistan. Naseem Shah to open the bowling attack.

PAKISTAN vs AFGHANISTAN (1st INNING)

SHARJAH: Pakistan have won the toss and elected to field first against Afghanistan in the all-important Super Four clash of the Asia Cup 2022.

PLAYING XIs

Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain

Afghanistan: Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi (c), Karim Janat, Rashid Khan, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fareed Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi

HEAD TO HEAD

Matches-2, Pakistan-2, Afghanistan-0

SHARJAH: Pakistan have won the toss and elected to field first against Afghanistan in the all-important Super Four clash of the Asia Cup 2022.

PLAYING XIs

Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain

Afghanistan: Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi (c), Karim Janat, Rashid Khan, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fareed Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi

HEAD TO HEAD

Matches-2, Pakistan-2, Afghanistan-0

DUBAI: As India faced an upset defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka on Tuesday, many Indian fans were enraged at the Indian team with young pacer Arshdeep Singh being the foremost victim of the severe backlash since he dropped an easy catch of Asif Ali during the Pakistan vs India match on Sunday.

In what appeared to be an insulting gesture, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma turned his back on the left-arm pacer when he was bowling the crucial final on Tuesday with Sri Lanka requiring just seven runs of the last over to win the game.

Rohit lost the match in 19th over but arshdeep lost the match in last ball
Well-done boy ❤️👏#SLvIND pic.twitter.com/jMXYcZzQRx

— سلمان قادر بھٹی (@sqb_786) September 6, 2022

The clip of the incident went viral on social media as netizens seemed perplexed over the Indian skipper’s attitude towards the young teammate.

It is pertinent to mention here that India faced back-to-back defeats in the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup 2022, diminishing the chances for Men in Blue to qualify for the final scheduled on September 11.

READ: Pakistan suffer 0-3 defeat from India on their return to international football

SHARJAH: Momentum-filled Pakistan will lock horns with a passionate Afghanistan cricket team today in a bid to storm into the final of the ongoing Asia Cup 2022.

All eyes will be on the fourth match of the ongoing Asia Cup Super Four which can confirm the finalists of the continental event.

Pakistan, ranked second in the Super Four points table with a victory that came against India on Sunday, will be hoping to imitate the outcome against Afghanistan as it would confirm the Men in Green qualification in the final.

Whereas, table toppers Sri Lanka with two wins against Afghanistan and India will also be hoping for Pakistan to win their all-important clash against Afghanistan as the outcome would also confirm their berth in the Asia Cup 2022 final.

Afghanistan, on the other hand, will be aiming to win their first Super Four match in order to stay in the competition, as will India, who will also be eliminated from the continental tournament if Afghanistan fail to defeat Pakistan.

The Green Shirts will be heavily backing themselves to sink Afghanistan as the side have remained victorious in the last two matches against Hong Kong and India respectively, while Afghanistan will be looking to bounce back after a frustrating defeat against Sri Lanka.

Pakistan will be heavily relying on their in-form batter Mohammad Rizwan, who is also the top-scorer of the ongoing tournament, while also hoping their captain Babar Azam and top-order batter Fakhar Zaman to fire.

In the bowling department, however, Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz can play a crucial role for the nation as they did in the high-octane clash against Pakistan. Whereas, pacers Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf will also be handy for the side.
[totalpoll id=”240685″]

Afghanistan, on the other hand, will be relying heavily on their explosive openers and their spin trio of Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

READ: Pakistan suffer 0-3 defeat from India on their return to international football

DUBAI: Afghanistan bowling coach Umar Gul revealed that the management has made a strategy against Pakistan captain Babar Azam while also expressing that the plan goes well in their favour.

Bowling coach Umar talked to the pre-match press conference ahead of Afghanistan’s upcoming Asia Cup Super Four fixture against Pakistan and expressed his hopes regarding the strategy against top-ranked T20I batter Babar to go as per plan.

“Babar and Rizwan are world-class players. Definitely, we have planned against them as professionals as we do for the other teams. So obviously, we are hoping that our players can execute those plannings against them,” said Umar Gul.

On a question regarding Pakistan speedster Naseem Shah, who impressed the cricketing world with his brilliant performance in the ongoing Asia Cup, Umar praised Naseem’s Pakistan Super League (PSL) performance and termed it a turning point in his success.

“I have worked with Naseem for two years during my coaching tenure for Quetta Gladiators and the way he performed in the last PSL was quite superb and you may call it a turning point for his international career as he made his debut in the white-ball cricket as well,” Umar stated.

“So in my view, he has improved quite well so far physically and also his cricketing skills. Definitely, he is a good bowler and an asset for Pakistan so I wish him good luck in the future. He is improving day by day and the responsibility is also mounting on him,” he added.

The former Pakistan pacer then expressed his desire to witness a good game of cricket between the two sides while also hoping the crowd to come out in numbers to watch the important match.

READ: ‘No doubt on his abilities, he’ll come back stronger’ Saqlain backs Fakhar

DUBAI: Pakistan head coach Saqlain Mushtaq came out in support of top-order batter Fakhar Zaman and expressed confidence regarding a stronger comeback of the latter in the side’s upcoming matches.

Saqlain, while talking to the media ahead of Pakistan’s scheduled Asia Cup Super Four clash against Afghanistan, opined regarding the struggling left-handed batter Fakhar and termed him a ‘fighter’.

“Fakhar Zaman is a fighter, we have no doubt about his abilities, he is a match winner and he will make a comeback in upcoming matches,” said Saqlain.

The head coach further commented on the recent slump in Babar Azam’s performance in the ongoing Asia Cup and stated that the latter is a world-class batter while also asserting that a dip in his performance sparked a new life in the batting line-up.

“Babar is a world-class batter. His failures in two-three innings have sparked a new life in the rest of our batting line-up since they had to adopt the responsibility and they did it efficiently,” said Saqlain.

Saqlain then went on to heap praises on wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Rizwan and coined him a ‘Super Human’.

“Rizwan is a superhuman. Fitness issues keep going. May Allah saves him from the evil eye, if it was not necessary away from Pakistan, another wicket-keeper would have been called but it was not needed,” Saqlain stated.

“Mohammad Rizwan is such a player who has to do a lot, but the medical staff has thankfully given him the green signal,” he continued.

The head coach then also commented on Pakistan’s thrilling victory over India in their first Super Four clash and acknowledged that the green shirts counter India’s attack with a positive mindset.

“India attacked strongly in the beginning, we knew their strategy and our bowlers did well to mark an astonishing comeback and our captain Babar also adopted the attacking strategy,” revealed Saqlain.

“Our batters attacked on Bhaneshwar Kumar and did well to work on the strategy. It is true that we also attacked India’s plan of attack which was brilliant,” he maintained.

Talking about Pakistan’s upcoming Super Four clash against Afghanistan, Saqlain insisted that no team is a weak opponent in the shortest format while also giving reference to Afghanistan’s performance in the initial stage of the ongoing Asia Cup.

“No team is easy in the shortest format. Afghanistan played good cricket in the group stages,” he concluded.

READ: Sri Lanka win thriller to diminish India’s chances for Asia Cup final berth