Pakistan defeated Afghanistan for 59 in the opening ODI by 142 runs on Tuesday. The victory gave Men in Green a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series in Sri Lanka. Afghanistan cannot host international cricket due to security concerns, hence this is a home series. Haris Rauf took five wickets after Pakistan set Afghanistan 202 runs, but they were bowled for 59 in 19.2 overs. Afghanistan was bowled out for their second-lowest ODI score. Haris Rauf’s first five-wicket haul in Pakistan colours was 5-18 in 6.2 overs. During Afghanistan’s innings, Shaheen took two wickets in two balls in his second over to set the tone for Pakistan. Read out complete details about Pakistan defeats Afghanistan for 59 in first ODI down below.
Pakistan defeats Afghanistan for 59 in first ODI
Naseem Shah and Shadab Khan both took one wicket. Afghan opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored 18 runs to lead the team. Earlier in the first innings, Imam-ul-Haq’s fighting knock and Shadab Khan’s late heroics helped Pakistan set a 202-run target for Afghanistan. Afghanistan bowlers rocked Pakistan’s top order on a great spin track. Pakistan fell behind as Fazalhaq Farooqi caught Fakhar Zaman in his first over. Babar Azam, Pakistan’s top ODI batsman, fell to Mujeeb ur Rehman’s spinning delivery in the next over.
Mohammad Rizwan and Imam briefly shared the crease but only scored 33 runs. Mujeeb struck Rizwan (21) on an LBW that generated doubts on social media. Iftikhar Ahmed, the team’s finisher, had to anchor the score this time. He did it so well alongside Imam who meanwhile also completed his 17th ODI half-century. They both scored 50 off 69 to somehow give Pakistan a breath of fresh air. The right-handed smasher got out after scoring 30 runs.
It was the time when Rashid Khan came and created a few chances against Iftikhar who finally fell to Mohammad Nabi in the 27th over. Rashid and Nabi bagged two wickets each to contribute strongly to Afghanistan’s bowling. Imam alongside Shadab built-up his third partnership of the day. This time they scored 40 runs together before Imam lost his control against Nabi and gave a catch at mid-on which was well taken by Rashid. Imam, who survived on two back-to-back dropped catches previously, scored 61 off 94 balls.
Shadab then got himself the support of tailender Naseem Shah who had a nightmare for Afghans in last year’s T20 Asia Cup. Naseem hit two consecutive sixes on the last two match-deciding balls of Fazalhaq Farooqui to notch an unbelievable victory for Pakistan. Naseem and Shadab stitched 34 runs off 47 balls before Shadab got run out. Rahmat Shah took the last wicket of Haris Rauf as Afghanistan bowled out Pakistan for the first time in ODIs. Earlier, Pakistan won the toss and put Afghanistan to bowl.
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.
