Rashid, quickest to 100 T20I wickets, but Asif Ali’s 24-run over feat seals the game

In the first match of yet another double header day, two teams, West Indies and Bangladesh locked horns against each other in a desperate need of win. Bangladesh skipper Mahmudullah, won the toss and elected to field first. On a sticky pitch, the West Indies batsmen struggled to score runs. However, a cameo of 22-ball 40 by Nicholas Pooran and 5-ball 15 by Jason Holder at the fag end of the innings saw West Indies post 142/7. In reply, Bangladesh batsmen as well, struggled to score runs at brisk pace. Liton Das was amongst the runs but his 43-ball 44 didn’t help the cause. Mahmudullah was left with too many runs at the end. Needing 12 runs of the last over, Andre Russell pulled it off as he gave away only nine runs.    

In the second game, two teams on red-hot streak, Afghanistan and Pakistan were up against each other. As a rather surprising move, Afghanistan skipper Mohammad Nabi, went against the trend and chose to bat first. The first six overs of their innings saw everything as there was a flurry of boundaries as well as wickets. They lost four wickets but scored 49 runs in the field restrictions. But, they slowed down in the middle overs, especially against spin. However, by scoring 43 runs in the last three overs, Afghanistan had a total to fight for. Pakistan in their chase, lost Mohammad Rizwan early, but Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam stitched a 63-run partnership for the second wicket. After The introduction of the spin maestro Rashid Khan, the game was in perfect balance. The momentum swung like a see-saw until Asif Ali waved his magical bat. With 24 runs required of the last two overs, Ali smashed four sixes in the 19th to hand Pakistan their third win. Here are a few notable stats from Match 23 & 24:

Second lowest total defended in Sharjah

With bowlers like Dwayne Bravo, Ravi Rampaul, Jason Holder and Akeal Hosein in their arsenal, the total of 142/7 on a sticky Sharjah pitch was equivalent to 165-170. Though Bravo went for 24 runs in his first two overs, his three-run 17th over and nine-run and a wicket filled 19th over was crucial. Apart from Bravo, the other four bowlers conceded less than 7.3, which helped West Indies defend the total. The first innings total of 142/7 defended by West Indies is the second lowest in T20Is in Sharjah. Afghanistan in 2013 against Scotland had defended 132/7.

A resurrection low down the order  

At 6 for 76 with eight overs remaining, Afghanistan were heading towards a disaster. But, the skipper Nabi and Gulbadin Naib took their time to revitalize their innings. Thanks to their unbeaten partnership of 71 for the seventh wicket, Afghanistan were able to put on a total of 142, which seemed obscure at one time. Their partnership of unbeaten 71 is the second best in T20 WC for any wicket below seven. Michael Hussey and Steve Smith against Bangladesh in 2010 had posted 74 for the seventh wicket, the best till now.

Too many dot balls

The major issue in Afghanistan’s batting was, either they were hitting boundaries or playing dots. Even in the middle overs when the field was spread, there was no strike rotation. Hence, just in the middle overs they had played 61.1 percent of dot balls (33 dots out off 54 balls). In total, they had played 59 dots. This is the most dot balls played by a team against Pakistan in a T20 WC match.

Babar beats Kohli to etch another record

Just like how it is for Virat Kohli, Babar is now at a stage where he just can’t stop scoring runs. In fact, his consistency has been a bit above par from Kohli, especially since his captaincy. It has been just 26 innings and Babar has scored 1000 runs already in T20Is, which is the quickest in terms of innings among captains in this format. To add more on his consistency, in those 26 innings, he has 13 scores of over 50, which is the joint most for a captain in T20Is alongside Kohli.

Asif Ali - “remember my name”

In consecutive games, Asif Ali has proven his worth as a finisher and a six hitter. Against New Zealand, his unbeaten 27 off 12 balls sealed a tight game. In his match against Afghanistan, the situation was similar and he delivered once again by hitting four sixes an over. The 24 runs scored by Pakistan in the 19th over against Afghanistan is the joint most runs they have scored in an over of a T20 WC. In 2010 against Australia and in 2014 against Bangladesh, they had hit 24 runs in an over.

Unstoppable Rashid

It has been six years since Rashid made his debut and the secret behind his wizardry hasn’t still been decoded. Even a batsman of the highest caliber looks to play out Rashid rather than attack him. Still, he manages to breach. This is one of the reasons why, in just 53 T20I matches, Rashid has bagged 100 wickets, the quickest among all the 100-wicket clubbers. It's just not in T20Is, even in the ODIs, he is the quickest to 100 wickets (44 matches). Mind you folks! He is just 23 years old.