Watch: Pakistan blew away Afghanistan in the first ODI of the three-match series in Hambantota yesterday (August 22), skittling them out for their second-lowest ODI total.
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Playing in the first bilateral, multi-game ODI series between the two nations, Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota yesterday (August 22). However, they didn’t get the best of starts.
Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, and Mohammad Rizwan were dismissed inside ten overs as Fazalhaq Farooqi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman shared the three wickets.
At 112-5, Afghanistan looked right on top before Imam-ul-Haq (61 in 94 balls) and Shadab Khan (39 in 50) helped Pakistan crawl past the 200-run mark. Afghanistan’s spin troika of Mujeeb, Rashid Khan, and Mohammad Nabi were at their best, sharing seven wickets.
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Afghanistan began their chase as the favourites, requiring just 202 to register their first ODI victory over Pakistan. However, their hopes came crashing down soon.
Shaheen Shah Afridi took two wickets in two balls in the third over before Naseem Shah dismissed Afghan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi in the fourth, thanks to a brilliant catch by Shadab.
Haris Rauf then came into the act and was too hot to handle for the Afghan batters. He first dismissed Ikram Alikhil in the eighth over before running through the lower middle order to finish with figures of 5-18 from 6.2 overs, his first five-for in ODI cricket.
Only two Afghan batters were able to get into double-digits – Rahmanullah Gurbaz (18 in 47 balls) and Azmatullah Omarzai (16 in 12). They were eventually bundled out for 59, their second-lowest ODI total and two runs fewer than Iman’s score earlier in the day.
It was also the lowest team total by any side against Pakistan, who won by 142 runs.
