Afghanistan came out all guns blazing in the 4th match of the Tri-Series in Sharjah as they avenged their opening night’s loss to Pakistan. Afghanistan outplayed Pakistan in all facets of the game and deserved the win and kept the trend of teams batting first winning the match in Sharjah. Afghanistan won an important toss and decided to bat first and posted a competitive 169/5 in 20 overs with Ibrahim Zadran scoring 65 and Sediqullah Atal scoring 64 while Faheem Ashraf picked up 4/27 with the ball for Pakistan.
While defending the score, the spinners of Afghanistan came to the fore as Mohammad Nabi, Noor Ahmad and Rashid Khan picked up 2 wickets apiece while new ball bowler Fazalhaq Farooqi also picked up 2 wickets at the top as they restricted Pakistan to 151/9 in 20 overs. The Pakistan batting failed as a unit few getting to 20s and Haris Rauf being the top-scorer with 34* off 16 balls to reduce the margin of defeat. With this win, Afghanistan joins Pakistan on 2 wins in 3 games and both are almost certain to meet in the finals.
Ibrahim Zadran & Sediqullah Atal propels Afghanistan to 169/5.
Winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Sediqullah Atal came out to open the batting for Afghanistan while Shaheen Afridi had ball in hand for Pakistan. Afridi bowled a decent first over. Saim Ayub was given the ball from the other end. Gurbaz smashed him over deep midwicket for the maximum. But Ayub had the last laugh removing Gurbaz for 8 off 10 balls with a maximum to his name.
Ayub bowled a shortish length on the stumps, Gurbaz tried to pummel it over the fence but mistimed it by clearing his front leg and pulling it towards deep square leg. Hasan Nawaz in the deep ran in and put in a full length dive to take the catch. Ibrahim Zadran came out to bat next. Atal lofted Afridi straight down the ground for a boundary. Ayub bowled another miserly over.
Haris Rauf was next introduced into the attack. Ibrahim joined the party by hitting a boundary in front of square and then a maximum over forward square leg. Saim Ayub bowled another decent over as Afghanistan at the end of 6 overs of powerplay were 34/1. Mohammad Nawaz was introduced into the attack post the powerplay. Atal broke the shackles by smashing a maximum over deep extra cover while Pakistan gifted them 5 runs via overthrows.
Sufiyan Muqeem came into the attack next as the 50 came up for Afghanistan in 7.2 overs. Muqeem bowled a decent over. Ibrahim then hit Nawaz straight down the ground for a boundary as the 50-run stand came up between the two batters. Faheem Ashraf was next introduced into the attack as Ibrahim crunched him through covers for a boundary. At the end of 10 overs at the halfway stage of the innings, Afghanistan were 73/1 when players took the Drinks Break.
Haris Rauf returned after the break and was launched over long-off for the maximum. Sufiyan Muqeem returned to the attack and bowled a decent over. Saim Ayub completed a decent spell as well. Ibrahim got a boundary away off Muqeem through an outside edge to third man as the 100 came up for Afghanistan in 13.1 overs. Atal brought up his fifty off 37 balls with a reverse sweep over short third man. Atal was not done yet as he smashed Muqeem for a maximum over deep midwicket and then another boundary through deep midwicket and long-on as 20 came off the over.
Afridi returned as Atal welcomed him back with a boundary behind point region. At the end of 15 overs, Afghanistan were 122/1. Faheem Ashraf returned and broke the massive stand as he dismissed Atal for 64 off 45 balls with 3 fours and 3 sixes to his name. He bowled a length delivery outside off from around the wicket. Atal swung it to long-on where Hasan Nawaz ran to his right and slid to take the catch. Azmatullah Omarzai came out to bat next and got off the mark.
Soon, Ibrahim Zadran reached his half-century off 38 balls. Omarzai was given a reprieve as Mohammad Nawaz dropped him at deep midwicket. Haris Rauf returned and Ibrahim hit him past short fine leg for a boundary and got two more boundaries in the over out of which one was lucky and the other through short fine leg. 17 runs came off the over. Faheem Ashraf struck again getting rid of Omarzai for 4 off 6 balls.
He bowled a length delivery outside off-stump, Omarzai looked to slog but he skied it straight up in the air. Faheem ran back and took the return catch himself. Karim Janat came out to bat next. He got off the mark straightaway. Faheem got his second wicket of the over as he dismissed Ibrahim for 65 off 45 balls with 7 fours and a maximum to his name. He bowled it full slow and wide of off-stump, Ibrahim stretched and swung it straight to deep midwicket where Mohammad Nawaz took the catch. Mohammad Nabi came out to bat next.
The veteran got off the mark with a boundary towards third man. Janat then hit Afridi for a boundary via a helicopter shot towards long-on. Ashraf was given the task of bowling the final over and he got rid of Nabi for 6 off 5 balls with a boundary to his name. Faheem bowled a short of a length and wide of off-stump delivery, Nabi looked to slap it over extra cover but he mistimed it. Fakhar Zaman back-tracked and took a nice catch as Faheem got his 4th wicket.
Captain Rashid Khan came out to bat now. He got off the mark with a maximum over long-off. He managed to get a brace off the final ball of the innings as Afghanistan finished with 169/5 in 20 overs. Rashid Khan was unbeaten on 8 off 4 balls with a maximum to his name while Karim Janat was unbeaten on 8 off 5 balls with a boundary to his name. 6 extras given by Pakistan bowlers.
Faheem Ashraf was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan with figures of 4/27 in 4 overs. Saim Ayub bowled well for his 1/18 in 4 overs. Shaheen Afridi was wicketless but kept things tight with 0/27 in 4 overs. Haris Rauf went for 38 in 3 overs. Mohammad Nawaz went for 24 in 2 overs while Sufiyan Muqeem went for 33 in 3 overs. It meant Pakistan now needed 170 runs to win in 20 overs to make it 3 wins out of 3 games and qualify for the finals.
Spinners of Afghanistan restricts Pakistan to 151/9.
Chasing 170 for the win, Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub came out to open the batting for Pakistan while debutant Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar had ball in hand for Afghanistan. Farhan made his intentions absolutely clear by slog sweeping Ghazanfar over deep midwicket for the maximum. Farhan was then dropped by Nabi at slip off Ghazanfar. Fazalhaq Farooqi was given the ball from the other end and he struck for Afghanistan dismissing Ayub for a golden duck.
Farooqi bowled a short ball outside off-stump, Saim looked to pull it half-heartedly where he only managed a top edge to Gurbaz who took a comfortable catch. Fakhar Zaman came out to bat at 3 and got off the mark with a lucky boundary past the diving slip fielder. Zaman then cut Farooqi through deep backward point for a boundary. Farhan was putting the debutant under pressure as he pulled him over deep midwicket for the maximum and slapped him through covers for a boundary as well.
Farooqi struck again getting rid of Farhan now for 18 off 13 balls with one four and 2 sixes to his name. He bowled a short of a length delivery angling in from around the wicket, Farhan looked to clip it through midwicket but he missed as the ball went onto strike the top of the off-stump. Captain Salman Ali Agha walked out to bat next and got off the mark. Salman hit Ghazanfar over covers for a boundary.
Azmatullah Omarzai came in to bowl the final over of powerplay as Salman hit him over third man for the maximum. Zaman got into the act by launching Omarzai straight down the ground for the maximum. 15 came off the over and Pakistan after 6 overs of powerplay were well-placed at 52/2. Captain Rashid Khan came into the attack post the powerplay. He bowled a decent over. Veteran Mohammad Nabi came into the attack next. Zaman hit Nabi for a boundary through long-off. But Nabi hit back and got the breakthrough dismissing Zaman for 25 off 18 balls with 3 fours and a maximum to his name just after Fakhar completed 2000 runs for Pakistan in T20Is.
Nabi bowled a short ball outside off-stump, Fakhar looked to cut but he top edged it to short third man where Fazalhaq Farooqi took the simple catch. With this, Nabi got to his 100th T20I wicket as well. Hasan Nawaz came out to bat next. He got off the mark as well. The captain Salman Ali Agha was the next one go via a run out for 20 off 15 balls with a boundary and maximum to his name. Salman while trying to come back at the bowler’s end was caught short thanks to brilliant work from Ibrahim and Rashid. Mohammad Nawaz came out to bat next and got off the mark as well.
Nabi bowled a decent over as Pakistan in the chase of 170 were 75/4 in 10 overs and needed a further 95 runs off the last 60 balls with 6 wickets in hand when the players took a drinks break. Noor Ahmad was introduced straight after the break. He struck straightaway getting rid of Hasan Nawaz for 9 off 12 balls. Noor from over the wicket bowled a full toss down the leg side, Hasan got down on one knee and looked to sweep it hard but got the top edge of the bat with the ball flying straight to short fine leg where Karim Janat took a sitter. Mohammad Haris came out to bat next.
Noor gave away 4 Byes to the batting side. Nabi struck again getting rid of Haris for 1 off 4 balls, another low score for the keeper-batter. Nabi from over the wicket bowled a short ball just outside off-stump, Haris moved his front leg across and went for the pull shot but mistimed it to deep midwicket where Darwish Rasooli in the deep ran in and took it safely. Faheem Ashraf came out to bat next. Noor bowled a decent over keeping things tight. Nabi too gave runs in singles as well.
The 100 came up for Pakistan in 14.3 overs as the boundaries had dried up for the Men in Green. After 15 overs, Pakistan were 103/6 and now needed a further 67 runs off 30 balls. Rashid broke through as he got rid of Mohammad Nawaz for 12 off 16 balls. Rashid from over the wicket bowled a back of a length googly outside the off-stump, Nawaz moved his front leg across and swung at it but got the outer half of the bat on it. The ball ballooned towards short third man where Atal took a sitter. Shaheen Afridi came out to bat next and was cleaned up for a golden duck by Rashid.
Rashid bowled a good length leg break on the middle and leg stump line, Afridi got down on one knee and tried to slog sweep straightaway on his first ball, but missed it completely as the ball went onto rattle the stumps as Rashid was now on a hat-trick. Haris Rauf came out to bat and negotiated the hat-trick ball safely and later got off the mark as well. Rashid then dropped Faheem trying to take a running catch from long-off off the bowling of Noor. But Noor was not to be denied as he got rid of Faheem Ashraf for 14 off 18 balls.
Noor bowled a length delivery chinaman turning away on the off-stump line and kept low. Ashraf moved his front leg across and swung at it but missed it completely. The ball went onto hit the top of off-stump. Sufiyan Muqeem the last man came out to bat for Pakistan. Rauf decided to have some fun as he slog swept Rashid over deep midwicket for the maximum. There was another dropped catch as Ghazanfar dropped Rauf off Rashid in the deep. Rauf then smashed Rashid towards cow corner for a flat maximum.
Muqeem hit Farooqi down the ground for a boundary. But the game was as good as over as Pakistan needed 34 off 6 balls from here. Haris then decided to reduce the margin of defeat. He launched Omarzai over long-on for the maximum. He was not done yet as he launched another one over deep midwicket for the maximum to bring up the 150 for Pakistan. There was a single to finish the game as Pakistan finished on 151/9 in 20 overs with Haris Rauf unbeaten on 34 off 16 balls with 4 sixes to his name while Muqeem was unbeaten on 7 off 6 balls with a boundary to his name. 11 extras given by Afghanistan who won the contest by 18 runs.
It was an all-round bowling performance by Afghanistan led by their spinners. Mohammad Nabi and Noor Ahmad finished with identical figures of 2/20 in 4 overs. Captain Rashid Khan finished with 2/30 in 4 overs. Fazalhaq Farooqi finished with 2/21 in 3 overs as he picked out the two openers at the top. The debutant Allah Ghazanfar went wicketless in his 0/24 in 3 overs while Azmatullah Omarzai gave away 30 runs in 2 overs.
So, Afghanistan won by 18 runs and Ibrahim Zadran was awarded the Player of the Match. Afghanistan with this win got themselves up to 4 points from 3 games same as Pakistan but behind on Net Run Rate as both teams are almost through to the summit clash on Sunday 7th September 2025. UAE with all to do with 2 losses in 2 games and have 0 points.
What Lies Ahead.
It’s a day-off on Wednesday 3rd September 2025. But the action resumes on 4th September 2025 when Pakistan square off against UAE in Sharjah at 8:30 PM IST. UAE are in a must-win situation to keep their hopes and the tournament alive. Pakistan despite losing to Afghanistan know a win against UAE will send them into the finals alongside Afghanistan.
So, can UAE pull off the unthinkable by upsetting Pakistan or will Pakistan bounce back from this loss with a strong performance against the hosts? Find out all the answer on Thursday 4th September 2025 as we are at the concluding leg of this Tri-Series.
Also Read: UAE T20I Tri-Series 2025: Afghanistan Registers First Win In Tournament By Thrashing UAE.