Pakistan defeated Afghanistan by one wicket in the second ODI at Mahindra Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota on Thursday evening to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
After Player of the Match Shadad Khan was run out while backing up too much for taking the strike at the start of the last over, Naseem Shah kept his nerves along with fellow fast bowler Haris Rauf to win a nail-biter for Pakistan.
This time around his victim was the same Fazalhaq Farooqi who conceded two sixes in two successive balls of the last over of an Asia Cup T20I match.
Chasing a mammoth total of 301 runs for victory, openers Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq gave a solid start by putting 52 runs partnership.
After the dismissal of Fakhar, skipper Babar Azam joined Imam and both added valuable 118 runs. At this stage, Pakistan was in a comfortable position and looking favourite to win the game.
The departure of Babar Azam and experienced Muhammad Rizwan with the addition of just six runs put Pakistan on the back foot.
Imam and Agha Salman added 32 runs to put Pakistan back on track. Agha Salman and Usama Mir fell in one over to Muhammad Nabi while top scorer imam-ul-Haq lost his wicket to Mujeeb-ur-Rehman in the following over. At this stage, Pakistan had lost six wickets with 90 more runs needed for victory.
Shadad Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed added 47 valuable runs.
Shadad Khan played sensibly while losing first Iftikhar Ahmed and then Shaheen Afridi on the other end.
He added 16 runs in the penultimate over to take the team close to a memorable victory.
Needing 11 runs for victory and off strike in the last over, Shadad Khan backed up too much resulting in losing his wicket to an unusual run out by the bowlers.
Now Pakistan needed 11 runs with the last pair on the wicket.
Naseem Shah hit a boundary on the first ball and took a single on the third one to handover strike to number 11 Harid Rauf,
Haris took three runs on the fourth ball and now Pakistan needed three runs on two balls.
Naseem edged the penultimate ball through slips and achieved a memorable victory for the Green Shirts.
Earlier, Afghanistan posted a competitive total of 300 for five wickets.
We are set a target of 301 in the second ODI 🎯#AFGvPAK | #BackTheBoysInGreen pic.twitter.com/BCoRqkYHYv
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) August 24, 2023
This was the highest-ever total achieved by Afghanistan against Green Shirts in ODI history.
After winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Afghanistan openers provided a solid foundation by stitching 227 runs partnership, just two days after collapsing to their second-lowest total of 59 runs.
Opener Rehmanullah Gurbaz was the leading scorer with 151 runs on the same number of balls, hitting 14 fours and three maximums. He was ably supported by fellow batter Ibrahim Zadran who finished on 80 (101 balls) while hitting six fours and two maximums. Both the batters successfully managed a potent fast bowling attack to score 227 runs in partnership.
Muhammad Nabi and Hashmatullah Shahidi cameos helped Afghanistan reach the 300-run mark for the first time in ODIs against the green shirts.
Shaheen Shah Afridi bagged two wickets and Naseem Shah and Usama Mir took one wicket each while Shahidullah was run out.
