Watch: Asif Ali smashed four sixes in the space of six balls in one of the great T20 World Cup cameos to seal a pulsating win for Pakistan against Afghanistan.
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Heading into the penultimate over, a game which had swung back and forth seemed to be headed Afghanistan’s way. Having reduced the equation to 24 needed off 12 balls, with both batters having faced just one ball each, Mohammad Nabi’s side were on the verge of an upset. However, Asif, fresh from striking 25* off 12 balls to seal a tense chase against New Zealand, had other ideas.
First he displayed supreme, level-headed confidence, sending back Shadab Khan in order to retain the strike, explaining after the game that he felt he could target the bowler, Naveen-ul-Haq, and the short leg-side boundary.
He did so in spectacular style, though at first he went over the longer off-side rope, going back in his crease to smash a massive hit over long-off. The next ball was a dot ball, Asif missing a wide yorker, before he went six then dot again, smashing over the leg-side and missing a yorker again.
With 12 needed, Asif finished the innings off in a hurry, with two more sixes, over long-off and the leg-side, completing a sensational chase. As Ben Stokes tweeted in the aftermath, “Remember the name”.
Watch the sensational sixes-filled Asif Ali heist below:
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