That is it! Afghanistan have made history and have gone 1-0 up. Join is back on the 26th of this month for the second match at 9.30 pm IST (4 pm GMT). Do join us for the build up. Cheers!
Rashid Khan says he is happy to finally win against Pakistan. Adds it is a different feeling while playing for the national team and it is always special. Reckons the pitch here always behaves differently but the mind set was to bowl well. Shares they want to do well at the top-order and also improve throughout the next matches.
Shadab Khan says he wants to give a chance to the youngsters and hopes they do well in the next match. Reckons as professionals they have to adopt to the conditions and play accordingly. On the bowlers, they bowled really well and had many positives.
Mohammad Nabi wins the Player of the Match. He says it was a tough score to chase on this ground. Adds his aim was to bat till the end. Reckons sometimes have to play this kind of knocks to win the match.
...Presentation time...
Earlier, Pakistan opted to bat first but it turned out to be a horrible decision as they were rattled under 100. Afghanistan were pin-point with their bowling and regular wickets helped them to keep Pakistan under such a score.
Pakistan would have made a match out of it if they had more runs on the board. The Pakistani bowlers tried their best with the new ball, striking thrice and putting Afghanistan under pressure but not for long as Afghanistan chased down with ease. 15-20 more runs could have made things hard for Afghanistan.
History has been made! For the first time ever, Afghanistan have beaten Pakistan in international cricket. What a moment for them! They just needed a calm mind and a stand to win this game. After losing their way in the start, both Mohammad Nabi and Najibullah Zadran brought in calmness and let the pressure go to chase this score down pretty easily.
AFGHANISTAN
98/4 (17.5)
38* (38)
17* (23)
2/17 (3.5)
1/11 (4)
Over 18
1lb
1
0
1
wd
6
Mohammad Nabi*
38 (38)
Najibullah Zadran
17 (23)
Ihsanullah
2/17 (3.5)
AFG
98/4
6
17.5
Ihsanullah to Mohammad Nabi ,SIX! Nabi wins it! Fuller and on off. Nabi thumps it down to long off for a biggie. Afghanistan win by 6 wickets.
wd
17.5
Ihsanullah to Mohammad Nabi ,Wide! Short and down leg. Nabi lets it go.
1
17.4
Ihsanullah to Najibullah Zadran ,On middle, worked to square leg for a single.
0
17.3
Ihsanullah to Najibullah Zadran ,Short and on off. Zadran misses his pull
1
17.2
Ihsanullah to Mohammad Nabi ,Length and on off. Nabi inside edges his push behind square leg for one.
1lb
17.1
Ihsanullah to Najibullah Zadran ,Leg bye! On the pads, this is flicked off the pads to square leg. A leg bye.
Over 17
0
1
1
2
4
4
Mohammad Nabi*
31 (36)
Najibullah Zadran
16 (20)
Naseem Shah
1/27 (4)
AFG
88/4
4
16.6
Naseem Shah to Mohammad Nabi ,FOUR MORE! Length and on middle. Nabi flicks it to deep mid-wicket, wide of the fielder and on a bounce to four.
4
16.5
Naseem Shah to Mohammad Nabi ,FOUR! Hit hard! Short and outside off. Nabi pulls it to deep mid-wicket for a boundary.
2
16.4
Naseem Shah to Mohammad Nabi ,Short in length on off, Nabi pulls it wide of deep mid-wicket for a couple.