A thrilling ODI between Afghanistan and Pakistan came down to the final ball last night (August 24) in Hambantota, with Naseem Shah hitting the winning run off the second-last ball to get Pakistan over the line with one wicket remaining.
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After a dominant performance by Pakistan’s bowling unit in the first ODI to bowl Afghanistan out for 59, Afghan openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran struck back with a record-breaking 227-run partnership. Gurbaz struck a run-a-ball 151 before finally falling in the 46th over of the innings. The pair batted through one-ball shy of 40 overs to build a mammoth platform.
While the middle-order struggles to explode at the end of the innings with three wickets falling in 12 balls after the 44th over, Afghanistan set 300 for Pakistan to chase: a vast improvement from the record-low just two days earlier. Against arguably the best ODI pace bowling attack in the world, that feat is all the more impressive.
However, the Pakistan top-order looked assured at the start of the chase. Imam-Ul-Haq moved towards a century and Pakistan reached 170-1 before a collapse began to unfold. Babar Azam was runout shortly after reaching his fifty. He was surprised by a slower delivery from Fazalhaq Farooqi, punting the ball up in the air to mid on. Two overs later, Mohammad Rizwan was also heading back having scored a seven ball two. Having attempted an impossible single, he was runout well short of his ground after the throw came in from midwicket.
Five overs later Pakistan were 211-6, Imam having been the last of three wickets which fell in nine balls, caught at backward point. With 90 still needed to win, the match reached boiling point in the final over. Shadab Khan had hit a match saving 34-ball 48 to drag Pakistan back into contention when Farooqi enacted a non-striker run out off the first ball of his final over to stop him in his tracks. Had Pakistan ended up losing the match, the incident would probably have garnered even more controversy.
However, No.10 Naseem Shah, hit a four off the first and last ball of the over to close the game out. Coming into the game having hit just two fours in ODI cricket before, he gave Pakistan yet another unexpected last-gasp victory.
