Afghanistan roar back to beat Pakistan in tri-series

AFP, Sharjah :

Afghanistan’s veteran spinner Mohammad Nabi reached 100 wickets in Twenty20 Internationals as he helped his team beat Pakistan by 18 runs in a tri-series match in Sharjah on Tuesday.
Pakistan had won the first meeting between the teams in the competition by 31 runs.

On Tuesday, Nabi grabbed 2-20 to help restrict Pakistan to 151-9 as they chased 169.
Ibrahim Zadran’s 45-ball 65 and Sediqullah Atal’s brisk 64 helped Afghanistan to 169-5 in their 20 overs despite Pakistan paceman Faheem Ashraf’s career best 4-27.

Ashraf’s previous best of 3-5 was against Scotland at Edinburgh in 2018.
In reply, Pakistan briefly looked on course to chase down the target with Fakhar Zaman scoring an 18-ball 25 in his 100th T20I but Nabi dismissed him and Mohammad Haris, for oner, to end all hopes.

Tail-ender Haris Rauf top-scored with 34 not out, hitting four sixes off 16 balls.
Spinner Rashid Khan, until Tuesday the only Afghanistan bowler to take 100 or more T20I wickets, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Noor Ahmad all took two wickets.

Before the T20 International, players observed a minute of silence for the victims of natural disasters in their countries: an earthquake which has killed more than 1,400 in Afghanistan and the deadly floods in Pakistan.

Two thirds of the way through the three-nation tournament, that also includes hosts United Arab Emirates, Pakistan leads the table with Afghanistan second.

After a rest day on Wednesday, Pakistan face the winless UAE today. The group stage ends with the hosts taking on Afghanistan.

The top two teams playithe final on September 7.