Naib with his controlled & calculated power game pulls Afghanistan into the final of Asian Games against India. Following a spell of 1/29, Naib orchestrated the chase with a mix of caution & aggression & remained unbeaten on 26 that was loaded with three big sixes & a four.
Afghanistan won the toss & elected to bowl on a tiring deck
Earlier Gulbadin won the toss & elected to bowl on a pitch that was testing & uneven. Shahzad’s glove work was highly untidy as he leaked two boundaries off Sharfuddin in the form of byes in one over. Wickets started to tumble once the spinners were introduced after the power play.
Fareed, Qais & Zahir ripped Pakistan apart
Qais as usual was at his best bringing about two breakthroughs for his team & finished with 2/11 from 3. Zahir supported him nicely with 2/20 in 3. Fareed Malik was the peak of bowlers as he clinched 3/15 in his quota of 3 overs. He cleaned up the last two wickets in his third over eventually restricting Pakistan to only 115. Karim Janat also contributed with a solitary wicket.
Noor Ali played a crucial knock to consolidate the chase
The chase did not start very well as Sediq Atal was trapped lbw in the second over. Although Shahzad & Noor Ali got a few quick runs thereafter, a double strike in the fifth over dragged Afghanistan into the backfoot once again. The pair of Noor Ali & Afsar Zazai started consolidating by rotating the strike until the 12th over. The partnership got broken by a mistimed swipe of Ali that went straight into the hands of short fine leg. Usually one wicket brings two but here there was one additional bonus in the form of Afsar & Karim. Both of them played rash shots to get out & put pressure on the lower order.
Naib executes his power game against Aamer Jamal
Naib and Sharafuddin didn’t seem comfortable at all against the spinners who were keeping things extremely tight. Boundaries were hard to come by. But when Aamer Jamal was introduced in the 18th over, Naib went berserk. Gul clubbed him for two sixes & four apart from a leg bye that went for a boundary. The over costed Pakistan 23 runs & Afghanistan crossed the line comfortably at the end.
An Indo-Afghan final instead of an Indo-Pak fairytale for the broadcaster
Broadcasters will be highly disappointed as one more possibility of an Indo-Pak affair got dashed with this result. Tomorrow Pakistan will be fighting for a bronze against Bangladesh whereas hot favorites India will lock horns with Afghanistan for the gold. Whatever be the result, Afghan boys have already achieved more than what they could have dreamt of in the Asian Games with a secondary side.