The result of the match between Pakistan and Afghanistan will determine the destiny of the Indian squad, which suffered back-to-back losses in the Super 4 stage of the Asia Cup 2022.
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In a thrilling one-wicket victory over Afghanistan on Wednesday, Pakistan’s tailender Naseem Shah struck two last-over sixes, eliminating rival India and setting up an Asia Cup final versus Sri Lanka.
When Pakistan, who was chasing 130, was in deep trouble at 118-9 and number 10 Naseem drove two strokes over the fence off Fazalhaq Farooqi to win in Sharjah with four balls remaining, the hopes of India and Afghanistan making it to the final were destroyed.
When Farooqi, who had figures of 3-19 from his first three overs, saw two full tosses at the start of the final over dispatched over long-off, the Afghans appeared to be heading for victory. When Fareed Ahmad struck twice in the 19th over, including by removing the powerful Asif Ali, tempers rose. As the umpire tried to calm Asif Ali down, he waved his bat violently in the bowler’s direction.
When Afghanistan batted first, their innings never really got going since, aside from Ibrahim Zadran, who made a 35-run contribution, no other batter was able to make a meaningful one. As a result, Afghanistan’s innings concluded with a dismal score of 129/6. All five of Pakistan’s bowlers recorded wickets, with Haris Rauf standing out with 2/26. Afghanistan’s defense of a modest score got off to a fantastic start when skipper Babar Azam was out for a golden duck on the second delivery of the innings by Fazalhaq Farooqi. After Fakhar Zaman was run out three overs later, Pakistan quickly fell to 18/2.
The tense Asia Cup encounter on Wednesday night in Sharjah ended with an argument between Pakistani batter Asif Ali and Afghan paceman Fareed Ahmed.
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After Ahmed dismissed Ali for 16 in the penultimate over of the T20 match with a bouncer that was top-edged in the direction of a short superb leg, where Karim Janat pouched the catch, tensions erupted.
After the dismissal, Afghanistan was in a strong position and Pakistan needed 12 runs to win off of nine deliveries with one wicket in hand. Ahmed gave a hand pump and also a happy bark right in front of the 30-year-old before Ali started moving toward the dugout.
Following that, Ahmed turned around and raised his bat in a threatening manner to strike his opponent, evoking memories of Javed Miandad’s infamous 1981 match against Dennis Lillee. The right-handed hitter replied by pushing Ahmed before making his way into the sheds, but the covering bowler intervened with a few hints.
Before Afghan teenager Azmatullah Omarzai interfered and split the cricketers, both entered call once more.
“This is foolishness at an extreme level by Asif Ali and should be (barred) from the remainder of the tournament,” tweeted Dulbadin Naib, a former captain of Afghanistan. ‘Any bowler has the right to rejoice, but getting aggressive is never acceptable’.
Ali and Ahmed reportedly anticipated fines under Level 1 of the ICC’s Code of Conduct as a result of the event. In the end, Pakistan prevailed by one wicket as Naseem Shah, a youngster, hit two sixes in the last over to win the unexpected result.
After the game, Babar Azam of Pakistan stated, “To be honest, the atmosphere in the locker room was extremely tight.”
“I was in the changing area… I had a little amount of faith because I reasoned that it was cricket and I had seen Naseem bat like way.
As a result, Pakistan will play Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup championship, eliminating India and Afghanistan from the competition.
Mohammad Nabi who is the captain of Afganistan stated “The guys were excellent with the ball and on the pitch, but once more we struggled to finish.”
He further add “At the very end, we couldn’t control our nerves. We provided the bowlers with the options of slower balls and yorkers, but regrettably we weren’t able to use them when we needed to.”
Following the heated exchange between Asif Ali and Afghan pacer Fareed Ahmed during their match for the 2022 Asia Cup, Pakistan great Javed Miandad aimed at the Afghan players.
Pakistan’s 2022 Asia Cup match against Afghanistan was emotionally fraught on Thursday, and the Babar Azam-led team won by a narrow one-wicket margin in Sharjah. With two sixes off the first two deliveries of the game’s last over, Naseem Shah gave Pakistan a dramatic victory after they had struggled to reach 118/9 in 18.5 overs while pursuing a 130-run mark. Pakistan’s advancement to the competition’s final, where they will face the Sri Lankan team, was also ensured by the victory.
Following Fareed Ahmed’s dismissal of Pakistan’s Asif Ali in the game’s penultimate over, a heated altercation between the two players disrupted the proceedings. Following the dismissal, Fareed made some remarks to Asif that appeared to incite the Pakistani hitter, who lifted his bat before both of them were separated by other Afghan cricketers and the umpires. Several former Pakistan cricketers spoke at length about the incident, but Javed Miandad, the team’s former captain, criticized the Afghan team for its unsportsmanlike conduct during the match.
When Afghanistan first entered the international cricket scene, they would “practice in Pakistan,” according to Miandad, who himself had provided “special tutoring” to Afghan players. Miandad claimed that the behavior had injured him.
In an interaction, Maiden stated “I was pleased with Pakistan’s performance. And because of the opposition’s terrible behavior, I’m quite disappointed in them. Look at their appearance and language; these guys used to train in Pakistan. What are they seeking? Do they think of themselves as larger? Cricket games have hardly even begun yet. Have they become insane?
Further added “From us, they have learned. I have personally coached them. Last night, I was furious at how they were acting. All of a sudden, they regard themselves as superstars. Right now, your cricket is meaningless. Learn more and act like a cricketer. You must demonstrate sincerity and humility and develop respect”.
Virat Kohli was lost for words as his unbeaten 82 took India to a stunning last-ball win against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup on Sunday after Sri Lanka had earlier strolled to a nine-wicket victory over Ireland.
India looked down and out at 45-4 halfway through their pursuit of arch-rival Pakistan’s 159-8 with 90,000 spectators working themselves into a frenzy in an incredible atmosphere at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
But Kohli, with 82 off 53 balls and Hardik Pandya, who scored 40 off 37, launched an incredible fightback with a century stand.
India still needed 60 off the last five overs, which was reduced to an unlikely 28 with only eight balls remaining.
Kohli then bludgeoned two towering sixes off Haris Rauf to leave India needing 16 off the final over from a nervous Mohammad Nawaz, who peppered it with wides and no-balls to help them to their target.
“It’s a surreal atmosphere, I have no words, no idea how that happened,” said Kohli, back to his rampant best after a lean couple of years.
“I am really lost for words. Hardik believed we can do it, if we stayed till the end.”
India captain Rohit Sharma, who was out for just four, was full of praise for Kohli and Pandya’s stand and admitted he had thought at one stage: “We were in no position to win this.”
“Those two guys are experienced. Staying calm and taking the game deep was very critical. Good for our confidence,” he said.
A deflated Pakistan captain Babar Azam paid tribute to Kohli.
“Our bowlers bowled really well. We had a chance, we tried to stick to our plans. But credit to Virat Kohli.”
Few sporting rivalries match the passion of India-Pakistan and the atmosphere, already electric, hit fever pitch when Pakistan’s openers were dismissed cheaply after being sent into bat, with Azam out lbw for a golden duck to Arshdeep Singh.
There was no let-up in the ear-splitting noise right to the breathless final over which included Kohli hitting a six off a no-ball, then running three byes after being bowled off a free hit.
A wide and some scrambled runs left Kohli at the non-striker’s end with two needed off two balls.
Dinesh Karthik was then stumped down the leg side as he stumbled out of his ground leaving Ravi Ashwin needing two off the final delivery.
‘Spectacular!’
“As good a game as I can remember seeing in T20 cricket .. Both teams bring so much .. 90 thousand at the G .. UNBELIEVABLE,” tweeted former England captain Michael Vaughan.
India betting legend Sachin Tendulkar wrote on social media: “@imVkohli, it was undoubtedly the best innings of your life. It was a treat to watch you play, the six off the back foot in the 19th over against Rauf over long on was spectacular!”
Earlier in Hobart, disciplined bowling and an unbeaten half-century by Kusal Mendis powered Sri Lanka to a nine-wicket hammering of Ireland in their opening Super 12 match.
Asian champions Sri Lanka restricted Ireland to 128-8 which they strolled past with five overs to spare.
“Really happy the way we played. That is the kind of cricket we want to play,” skipper Dasun Shanaka said.
Mendis, a wicketkeeper-batsman, smashed five fours and three sixes in an unbeaten stand with Charith Asalanka, who made 31, to hand Sri Lanka two points with a good net run-rate.
The island nation have turned around their fortunes after being stunned by Namibia in their first-round opener. They bounced back to advance to the Super 12.
India next face the Netherlands on Thursday in Sydney, while Pakistan will need to bounce back on the same day against Zimbabwe in Perth.
Ireland face the in-form England next in Melbourne on Wednesday, while Sri Lanka will take on Australia, who lost their opening match to New Zealand, in Perth on Tuesday.
Virender Sehwag is a former Indian cricketer, during his match days he was regarded as one of the aggressive opening batsman players and he is the first Indian player who has been awarded with the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the year 2009.
Virender Sehwag makes a prediction that may surprise a little bit to the Indian fans of Asia Cup 2022.
The upcoming match is all set to knock its horn where India is going to meet Sri Lanka for their next match that has taken place on 6th Sept 2022 (Tuesday). For this match, Virender makes a bold prediction that who will win the game.
At the start of the season, India lost their first game against Pakistan after winning the first two games in the group stage. The last match played between these two teams was a nail-biting one but Pakistan won the game by 5 wickets. Also, in the recent game, Sri Lanka defeated Afghanistan by just four wickets.
In the last game of India that was played, they were having poor bowling and fielding it was not much consistent flow, even though the batters were good enough and having a lost against Pakistan made Virender made his prediction for his upcoming match
“For the upcoming tournament if India loses they might get eliminated, Pakistan has an opportunity, If they lose one match and win the other one, their net rate will allow them for the finals as they have two wins and one loss in the match.”
Because of the last match, India seems under pressure and Sehwag further mention Pakistan is going to play in the finals after a long time and as they have also defeated India after a gap they seem in little confident, the upcoming game is going to be crucial for both the teams. In the end, Sri Lanka won the game with just six wickets.
But the game between these two is going to be full of excitement and entertaining to watch out for. The Indian fans can catch out on the live match on the Disney+Hotstar app that will be available on the playstore app for both androids and Ios users.
South Africa in control after India win, Pakistan keep hopes flickering
South Africa took control of Group 2 at the T20 World Cup on Sunday with a nervy win over India after Pakistan kept their faint semi-final hopes alive with their first win of the tournament in Australia.Bangladesh got their challenge back on track and moved level on points with India by holding off Zimbabwe in a thriller to leave Group 2 in the balance with five teams separated by three points with two games to play.
David Miller and Aiden Markram both hit half-centuries to lead South Africa to a five-wicket win with two balls to spare after the Proteas’ fast bowlers, led by Lungi Ngidi who took 4-29, restricted India to an under-par 133-9 on a lively Perth pitch.
Miller, who scored 59 not out, and Markram, who made 52, put on 76 after the side’s top order fell cheaply as they made hard work of what looked like a routine chase.
“Fortunately we got the momentum we needed,” said captain Temba Bavuma of his middle-order pair.
“We came into the tournament as non-favourites and we will keep flying under the radar,” he added with his side unbeaten after three matches. “We will keep improving and that’s what we are doing.”
India’s attack made early inroads with left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh striking twice in three balls.
First he removed Quinton de Kock, caught by KL Rahul for one, then two balls later had Rilee Rossouw, who made a century in the previous match against Bangladesh, lbw for nought.
Markram and Miller steadied the innings from 24-3, crawling to 40-3 at the halfway mark.
The pair then went after off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who was left crestfallen when the normally safe hands of Virat Kohli at deep midwicket dropped a routine chance from Markram when he was on 35.
‘Match-winning partnership’
India dragged the game to the final over where, needing six to win, Miller finished in style with two fours to round off an unbeaten 46-ball innings.
“We expected the pitch to have something in it,” said India captain Rohit Sharma, “which is why you saw that 130 was not an easy chase. I thought we fought well till the end but South Africa played well.
“It was a match-winning partnership from Miller and Markram. But we were not good enough on the field.”
Earlier Ngidi led a fiery pace onslaught after India chose to bat with only Yadav, with a 40-ball 68, standing firm after India slumped to 49-5.
Ngidi was ably supported by fellow fast bowler Wayne Parnell who finished with 3-15 after starting the innings with a T20 rarity — a maiden over.
Pakistan hammered the Netherlands by six wickets in Perth, reaching their target of 92 off just 13.5 overs, but they still lie fifth in Group 2 on two points, three points behind leaders South Africa, two behind India and Bangladesh and one behind Zimbabwe.
Pakistan restricted the Dutch to 91-9 and then cruised to 95-4 with Mohammad Rizwan making 49.
Pakistan need to win their remaining matches against South Africa on Thursday and Bangladesh in a week’s time, and need other results to go their way, to have any chance of securing a semi-final place.
“Very happy. Performed very well in the bowling and in the batting,” said Pakistan captain Babar Azam. “A win always gives you confidence.”
Man of the match Shadab Khan took 3-22 as Pakistan dominated a Dutch side who are now out of the semi-final running after a third straight defeat.
“I have bowled against a few of their players in county cricket, so I know how they play,” said Shadab.
Last-ball drama
Earlier in Brisbane, Bangladesh secured a dramatic last-ball win over Zimbabwe, aided by opener Najmul Shanto’s maiden half-century and Taskin Ahmed’s three wickets.
Shanto’s 71 helped steer Bangladesh to 150-7 in a match that went to the wire with Zimbabwe needing 16 off a last over that turned into an incredible finale.
Two wickets fell, a big six was hit before the teams walked off thinking the match was over, only to be called back on the field.
Bangladesh believed they had won when Blessing Muzarabani, needing five to win, was stumped off the last ball.
A review showed wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan had taken the ball in front of the stumps, which is illegal, and therefore a no-ball.
The teams had to return to the field for a free hit with four needed to win, but Muzarabani missed again leaving Zimbabwe short on 147-8.
