The Afghanistan team scored exact 300 runs in the second match with five wickets down in 50 overs. The opener of Afghanistan team Rahmanullah Gurbaz batted brilliantly and he smoked almost all Pakistani bowlers all around the park. He scored 151 runs off 151 deliveries he faced. He completed his beautiful innings with the help of fourteen boundaries and three maximums. When his wicket fell then the Afghanistan team score was 227 and it was the first wicket that fell from their innings.
Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored 227 runs in the opening partnership. Ibrahim Zadran faced 101 balls and he scored 80 runs. He smashed six 4s and two 6s in his innings. Mohammad Nabi contributed 29 runs, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c) 15. Shaheen Shah Afridi took two wickets, Naseem Shah and Usama Mir took one wicket each. Pakistani bowlers bowled so good in the last ten overs. Afghanistan team scored 63 runs in last 60 balls, then they were just one down from the 41st over.
From the Pakistan batting performance, the opener of their team Fakhar Zaman scored 30 runs and out. Imam-ul-Haq was the top runs scorer from the Pakistan team, he scored 91 runs off 105 balls. The captain of the Pakistan team Babar Azam completed his half century (53 off 66) and out. Mohammad Rizwan once again failed to score good runs. Agha Salman contributed 14 runs, Iftikhar Ahmed 17. In the last phase of the match Shadab Khan scored 48 runs off 35 deliveries, Naseem Shah 10 runs off five balls gave Pakistan victory with one wicket and one ball remaining.
Pakistan vs Afghanistan 3rd ODI Highlights 2023, Saturday 26-8-2023, R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo.
Babar says it’s a dry surface and that’s why they wanted to bat first. “We are trying different combinations before the Asia Cup. Quite satisfied with how we have performed so far. It’s quite a different pitch [than the ones we played on for LPL]. It’s a good pitch. I think 280-290 is a good total.”
Shahidi: “Today is a fresh day, we will try to come back and win. From last year, we have been playing very good cricket. We qualified for the ODI World Cup directly and we beat tough teams. We want to go into the Asia Cup with a positive note.”
Pakistan win the toss and opt to bat first.
Pakistan team: Imam, Fakhar, Babar (capt), Rizwan (wk), Saud, Salman, Shadab, Nawaz, Shaheen, Faheem, Wasim Jr.
Afghanistan team: Rahmanullah (wk), Ibrahim, Riaz, Hashmatullah (capt), Fareed, Nabi, Rashid, Gulbadin, Shahid, Mujeeb, Farooqi.
Head to Head In ODI’s: 7
Pakistan Won: 7
Afghanistan Won: 0
Pakistan ODI Rankings: 1st
Afghanistan ODI Rankings: 9th
Form guide
(last five completed ODI’s, most recent first)
Pakistan WWLWW
Afghanistan LLLWW
Match Timings: 9:30 AM GMT | 3:00 PM Local
Umpires – Izatullah Safi, Nitin Menon
TV Umpire – Sharfuddoula
Match Referee – Ranjan Madugalle
Reserve Umpire – Ahmed Shah Durrani
Match number – ODI no. 4627
Post Match Presentation
Shahidi: It was tough, the pitch was different. We didn’t apply ourselves. A lot of learning, disappointed with performance. We know that we will have the same kind of teams in the World Cup and Asia cup. Our batting was not good. We gave some runs in fielding also. Afghanistan spin bowling is always good. We are satisfied with them. Our openers are doing very good. Our middle order needs to take the responsibility, it’s a big thing for us. We also had three injuries, and they were main players. That’s also why we were behind.”
Babar: We are No.1 [in ODIs]. All credit to boys. We had a small camp in Lahore. They worked hard for the last of couple pf months. After the Test. everybody prepared well. As you know, they are one of the best spin sides. It was not easy to bat on. [With Rizwan] We were just trying to build a partnership, go deep and back each other. Wanted to be calm and composed to end the game.
“We wanted to try our bench, a few young players also. tried different combinations to understand before the Asia Cup. wanted to give everyone confidence. [on Saud Shakeel] I told him at the toss that he was debuting. Sorry about that [he has played before]. He is playing spin very well, so we included him in the Asia Cup.”
Rizwan is the Player of the Match: We thought 240 would have been enough here. We had a meeting in the morning where we decided to do things a bit differently. But we assessed the conditions like we have in the past. The openers attacked but we lost wickets. Then we went deep and decided to score big. The experience will be great as we play the Asia Cup matches here. The surface got a little tricky under lights because the ball was gripping in the second innings. Our performances and the win are all because of the fast bowlers in the last two years. It gets a little difficult at times [batting in the middle order in ODIs]. Sometimes have to play against the new ball. Sometimes the ball grips, sometimes have to accelerate. But want to go with the team’s requirements.
Imam-ul-Haq is the Player of the Series: It’s just a process. It’s quite difficult in these conditions. They are very good spin side. Rotation of strike was very important. The management planned that and it worked. I have listened to my chachu as well. You should move your back leg against spinners. It’s working and I am happy. [on fitness] Want to thank my management. Game demand lot of fitness and attitude. We are here for two months now, fielding is the most important thing and we are working on it ahead of the Asia Cup. We will take all the positives. It means a lot [to win the player of the series award].
