Pakistan won by 1 wicket in a thrilling match that stretched till the last over

Hambantota: Afghanistan batsman Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s 151 went in vain as Pakistan rode on half-centuries from opener Imam-ul-Haq and captain Babar Azam and a crucial 48 from Shadab Khan in the last over of the second ODI here on Thursday. Thrilling victory by one wicket. Pakistan took an unassailable 2–0 lead in the ODI series against Afghanistan, registering a thrilling 602-run match, the highest match total for both teams in ODIs.

In the death overs of the second innings, which were filled with one dramatic moment after another, Pakistan held on to win the second ODI by a narrow margin with one ball and one wicket to spare. Naseem Shah once again dominated Afghanistan as he snatched their maiden ODI win against Pakistan. Earlier in the day, Gurbaz’s brilliant 151 helped Afghanistan reach a solid 300/5.

This was their highest score against their regional rivals, Pakistan. Gurbaj’s innings, which included 14 fours and three sixes, unleashed the Pakistani attack. He put on 227 runs for the first wicket with Ibrahim Zadran (80), Afghanistan’s second-highest partnership for any wicket. This was the highest score by an Afghanistan batsman against Pakistan and also the first century by an Afghanistan player against the country.

His previous highest individual effort was Hashmatullah Shahidi’s 97 not out. It was Gurbaj’s fifth ODI century, and it came in only 23 innings. With this, he became the third fastest player to score five ODI centuries, surpassing Babar Azam (25 innings) and joint first behind Quinton de Kock (19) and Imam-ul-Haq (19). .

His century was also the first time that a wicket-keeper scored 150 runs in men’s ODIs against Pakistan. The previous best by a wicket-keeper was India’s MS Dhoni’s 148 at Visakhapatnam. After being bundled out for just 59 runs in the first ODI, Afghanistan showed tremendous struggle with the bat in their second match of the series. After strong starts from Gurbaz and Zadran, there was a slight wobble in the death overs but Mohammad Nabi’s 29 helped them reach the 300 mark at the end of their innings.

In reply, Pakistan were at one stage going strong with the partnership between Imam-ul-Haq (91) and Babar Azam (53) putting on 118 runs for the second wicket. However, the fall of the captain’s wicket precipitated such a collapse that Pakistan lost five wickets for 41 runs. Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed anchored the innings but as wickets kept falling, Afghanistan edged closer to victory. Shadab needed 27 runs from 12 balls and hit a six and a four in the last two balls of the penultimate over.

On the very first ball of the last over, Shadab was run out while being backed by Fazalhaq Farooqui at the non-striker’s end. With only one wicket to spare, Naseem Shah, as he had done against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup last year, came to Pakistan’s rescue and sealed victory with one ball to spare. Pakistan will go into the final ODI in Colombo on August 26 with an unassailable 2-0 lead.

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