Pakistan completed a nervy three-wicket win over Afghanistan in a nail-biting Super Four contest of the Asia Cup at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Friday.
Chasing a modest 258, Pakistan were in control with a 154-run second wicket stand between Imam-ul-Haq (80) and Babar Azam (66) before losing their way with the fall of regular wickets, only to be rescued by former skipper Shoaib Malik's belligerent 43-ball unbeaten 51, which included a six and a four in the last two deliveries of the match.
Pakistan managed to recover from the early loss of opener Fakhar Zaman (0), thanks to Imam and Babar's patient knocks before a mix-up resulted in the run-out of Imam.
Babar soon followed the opener to the pavilion even as Pakistan's middle order woes continued to haunt them with number 4 Haris Sohail (13), skipper Sarfraz Ahmed (8), Asif Ali (7) and Mohammad Nawaz (10) all departing within a span of just 48 runs.
Here’s a look at how Twitter reacted to Pakistan’s last-over victory against Afghanistan.
Shoaib Malik again showed why he is still a force to reckon with as he wasn't deterred by the situation and held one end up to keep Pakistan's hopes alive. He together with Hasan Ali (6 not out) overcame the scare to finally overhaul the target with three balls to spare.
(With inputs from IANS)
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