PAK vs AFG 3rdT20 Highlights: Pakistan Win by 66 Runs, Afghanistan Clinch Series 2-1

By Sanjit Gupta

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Pakistan’s batting performance improved significantly and they were typically clinical with the ball, enabling them to avoid a potential third T20I series whitewash. They secured a comfortable victory over Afghanistan by a margin of 66 runs. Despite Pakistan’s impressive score of 182, Afghanistan never posed a serious threat, ultimately collapsing to 116 all out in response.PAK vs AFG 3rdT20, pak vs afg t20,Shadab Khan’s golden day,pak vs afgt20 highlights,t202nd,

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Pakistan found themselves batting first for the third consecutive game after losing the toss to Afghanistan in Sharjah. Similar to their previous encounters, the visitors encountered early trouble with the spin duo of Mujeeb-ur Rehman and Mohammad Nabi accounting for Mohammad Haris and Tayyab Tahir. However, Saim Ayub and Abdullah Shafique responded with an aggressive partnership that turned the tide in Pakistan’s favor. Their 35-run stand off 20 balls set the tone for Pakistan to maintain their attacking approach, with Saim leading the charge and anchoring the innings for the most part, falling just one run short of his fifty.,PAK vs AFG 3rdT20,PAK vs AFG 3rdT20,pak vs afg t20,pak vs afg t20,Shadab Khan’s golden day,Shadab Khan’s golden day, pak vs afgt20 highlights, pak vs afgt20 highlights,t202nd,t202nd,

Iftikhar Ahmed and Shadab Khan took charge from that point onwards, launching an assault on every bowler as Afghanistan began to lose their grip on the game. Pakistan scored 74 runs in the final seven overs, setting a target that was considerably higher than any other total achieved in the series.

The success of Afghanistan’s chase rested heavily on a quick start from Rahmanullah Gurbaz, but Imad Wasim, Zaman Khan, and Ihsanullah put a stop to that. Even debutant Sediqullah Atal could only manage a slow 19-ball 11, while Ihsanullah took out Gurbaz during the Powerplay. Although Mohammad Nabi and Usman Ghani briefly resisted, they were unable to mount a significant partnership, and once Ihsanullah returned to the attack, the resistance quickly crumbled. A bouncer from Ihsanullah left Najibullah Zadran injured and retired hurt, while Karim Janat was dismissed for a golden duck. A double-strike from Shadab Khan, including his 100th T20I wicket, effectively dashed any hopes of an Afghan victory.

Saim, Shafique take Afghanistan on

After Pakistan lost two early wickets, it seemed like another innings where Afghanistan would dominate their inexperienced batting line-up. However, Saim, who has struggled in this series, and Shafique, who hadn’t scored a T20I run in three years and five innings, decided to attack instead of playing it safe. Saim started by smashing Mujeeb over the on-side, while Shafique took on Fareed Ahmed in the final Powerplay over, taking Pakistan to their highest six-over score of the series at 52. Shafique continued to attack Nabi even after the Powerplay ended, but Rashid Khan finally got him out the following over. However, the brief aggressive passage of play had already swung the game in Pakistan’s favor. They even managed to spoil Rashid’s unbeaten 17.5 overs without conceding a boundary, as Saim hit a full toss from the legspinner over cow corner for a six. pak vs afg t202nd 

Shadab Khan’s golden day out

Shadab had a tough weekend, leading Pakistan to their first international defeats against Afghanistan. Some of his decisions as captain were questionable, and the choice to bat first in the second game, after Afghanistan had easily chased down the target in the first game, was heavily criticized. Additionally, his post-match comments about missing Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan may have demoralized the young top-order replacements in the team.

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Shadab Khan's golden day

On Monday, Shadab delivered an outstanding performance that highlighted what an exceptional cricketer he is. His quickfire knock of 28 runs off 17 balls during the death overs was valuable, propelling Pakistan to a score above par on the surface and giving them momentum going into the changeover. Shadab was equally impressive with the ball, taking important wickets at different stages of the innings. In his first over, he beat Ibrahim Zadran in the flight, and in his third over, he picked up a double-strike by dismissing Ghani and Mujeeb, taking his 100th and 101st T20I wickets in the process. His excellent figures of 4-0-13-3 were well-deserved.

Ihsanullah brings the heat

Once again, Ihsanullah, the Pakistani fast bowler, displayed his intimidating form, which has become customary for him in the past six weeks. In the eleventh over, with the asking rate increasing and his pace well into the high 140s kph, he showcased all the attributes that he brings to the team. After a suicidal run resulted in the run-out of Nabi, the new batsman Najibullah faced his first ball. Ihsanullah had started to bowl shorter deliveries, and the first ball took Najibullah by surprise, with the ball deflecting off his bat and hitting his unprotected jawline. Blood gushed out, and Najibullah had to leave the field. Azmatullah Omarzai came in as his concussion substitute. But Ihsanullah wasn’t going to back down. He delivered another brutish delivery to Janat, which was caught by Haris, and then he bowled a 145kph bouncer that Rashid had to get out of the way of. At this point, the focus was on self-preservation rather than run-scoring.

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