Left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz declared a hat technique and influenced Pakistan to a 75-run win in the last of the Twenty20 tri-series as Afghanistan crashed to its 2nd lowest-ever T20 rating of 66 on Sunday.
Afghanistan’s spinners, led by Rashid Khan’s 3-38, had previously restricted Pakistan to 141-8 which was the most affordable overall by groups batting initially in the competition that likewise included United Arab Emirates.
“It was the kind of wicket where even 130-140 was always going to be challenging and once we got there, we knew it would be tough for them,” Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha stated.
“Since Nawaz’s comeback, he’s been outstanding, performing brilliantly in all departments. For me, he’s the guy I can rely on in tough situations.”
Nawaz (5-19) sliced through the Afghan middle-order with the wickets of Darwish Rasooli and Azmatullah Omarzai off the last 2 balls of his very first over in the powerplay. He ended up being just the 3rd Pakistani bowler to accomplish a hat technique in T20s when in-form batter Ibrahim Zadran was stymied off the very first ball of Nawaz’s 2nd over.
Quick bowlers Faheem Ashraf and Mohammad Hasnain attained hat techniques for Pakistan versus Sri Lanka in 2017 and 2019, respectively.
Nawaz had Afghanistan on the mat with 4 wickets for simply one run in his very first 2 overs when he likewise had Karim Janat leg before wicket off a straight shipment before he settled a best night at Sharjah Cricket Stadium by declaring the wicket of Khan in his last over.
Khan, playing in his 100th T20 for Afghanistan, top-scored for his group with 17 while Sediqullah Atal made 13 as none of the other batters might reach double-figures with 2 professional spinners Sufiyan Muqeem (2-9) and Abrar Ahmed (2-17) likewise baffling the batters.
“I feel like that was a chaseable total but we didn’t play the brand of cricket we wanted,” Khan stated. “Losing five wickets inside the powerplay made it really hard to bounce back … it’s important for us to learn from these conditions ahead of the Asia Cup.”
Pakistan had actually previously picked to bat initially and stammered to 72-5 in the 12th over before Nawaz restored the innings by contributing 25 run 21 balls and sharing a 40-run stand with Agha, who made 24 before being up to Khan in the 17th over.
On a spinning wicket, Pakistan batters had a hard time and Saim Ayub was restricted to 17 run 19 balls while Fakhar Zaman could not check out Khan’s straight shipment and was out plumb leg before wicket for 27 in 26 shipments.
Pakistan’s design template of going with a fleet of all-rounders bailed them out and offered the group self-confidence ahead of the Asia Cup, beginning in UAE on Tuesday.
“We wanted to prepare in a way that helps us for the Asia Cup and we’ve done that,” Agha stated. “We’ve been doing really well since the Bangladesh home series. Finally, we’re in very good shape and fully prepared for the Asia Cup.”