'Gun' slugger puts World Cup on notice

3 years ago 280

Amid unbearable hostility and a cacophony of noise, Afghanistan's players were successful show of the biggest triumph successful their country's cricketing history.

With 4 assertive strikes, Asif Ali took it distant from them.

Pakistan's powerfulness hitter smashed 4 sixes successful the next-to-last implicit of a thrilling lucifer astatine Dubai International Stadium to seal a five-wicket triumph implicit its plucky neighbor.

“The bound was tiny from this extremity truthful I told my spouse I’d spell for it,” Asif said. “Thank God we pulled it off."

Set 148 to win, Pakistan appeared to beryllium timing its pursuit to perfection, lone to suffer cardinal batters Babar Azam (51) and Shoaib Malik (19) successful the abstraction of six balls and find itself needing 24 runs with 2 overs remaining.

They each came successful 1 blazing six-ball spell that evoked memories of Carlos Braithwaite's 4 consecutive sixes to seal the West Indies' triumph implicit England successful the 2016 final.

Taking connected the mean gait of Karim Janat, Asif cleared the long-off bound disconnected the archetypal ball, the midwicket bound disconnected the 3rd shot and powered different six down the crushed disconnected the 5th ball.

With the six runs inactive needed to win, Asif gave himself country and crunched Janat’s sixth shot for six implicit other screen to clinch a 3rd consecutive triumph successful the Super 12s for Pakistan, which had already dispatched India and New Zealand.

Asif finished connected 25 not retired disconnected conscionable 7 balls and his squad is present a large favourite to beryllium 1 of the 2 semifinalists to travel from Group 2, with Pakistan's remaining games against qualifiers Namibia and Scotland.

Afghanistan fell to its archetypal nonaccomplishment of the tourney aft opening with a triumph implicit Scotland, narrowly failing to unafraid what would person been a memorable triumph astatine a clip of uncertainty backmost location pursuing the Taliban’s takeover of the state successful August.

Afghanistan skipper Mohammad Nabi said this week “the lone happiness successful Afghanistan is cricket." Star legspinner Rashid Khan said his squad conscionable wanted to enactment smiles connected the faces of radical backmost home.

They volition person done that, adjacent successful this agonizing defeat.

“Asif Ali played that 19th implicit truly well,” Nabi said. "There are galore positives to instrumentality from this. We fought to the extremity and it’s fixed maine much information to triumph games.”

The lucifer began portion swathes of fans extracurricular the stadium were seen moving toward the entrances. Those already wrong had queued for hours and they generated a stunning ambiance successful a crushed awash with colour and energy.

Afghanistan recovered from slumping to 39-4 aft 5.1 overs to station 147-6, chiefly acknowledgment to an unbeaten 71-run concern — disconnected 48 deliveries — betwixt Nabi and Gulbadin Naib, who some finished connected 35.

Shadab Khan and Shah Afridi were the champion of the Pakistani bowlers, having figures of 1-22 disconnected their 4 overs.

Perhaps bettering them were Afghanistan spinners Mujeeb Ur Rahman (1-14) and Rashid Khan, who lone came into the onslaught aft 10 overs but had figures of 2-26 and bowled the unsafe Babar disconnected the past shot of his spell to permission Afghanistan successful with a chance.

Asif had different ideas.

The stars acceptable to interruption retired astatine 2021 men's T20 World Cup

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