SHARJAH: Pakistan to post a decent total of 130/6 against Afghanistan in the second T20I of the three-match series on Sunday.
Half century from all-rounder Imad Wasim and Shadab Khan’s sensible 32-run knock powered a decent total from Afghanistan.
Opting to bat first, Pakistan were off to a poor start to their innings as the green shirts lost two wickets in the first over as opener Saim Ayub and Abdullah Shafique bagged ducks.
With a frustrating first over, young hard-hitting batter Mohammad Haris looked to counter-attack in the second over as he took Azmatullah Omarzai to the cleaners.
Haris appeared to have found the rhythm but Naveen-ul-Haq got him caught behind in the fourth over to draw the third success for Afghanistan. He could score 15 off nine deliveries with the help of two boundaries and a six.
With Pakistan reeling at 20/3 in the fourth over, experienced all-rounder Imad joined young Tayyab Tahir in the middle and stitched a fighting 40-run partnership.
Imad led the fightback amid his fourth-wicket stand with Tahir before the latter fell victim to Karim Jannat after a cautious 23-ball 13.
Pakistan then jolted with another setback in the next over as Rashid Khan trapped Azam Khan (1) in his legs and forced Pakistan to slip to 63/5 in 11 overs.
With his side in all sorts of trouble, skipper Shadab Khan came out to bat and stitched a match-saving partnership with Imad.
The pair soaked the pressure put on by Afghanistan bowlers and kept the scoreboard ticking before Shadab perished on the final delivery of the innings.
Imad top-scored for Pakistan with a gritty half-century, scoring 64 off 57 deliveries, hitting three boundaries and two sixes, while Shadab scored a 25-ball 32, laced up with three boundaries.
Fazalhaq Farooqi led the bowling attack for Afghanistan with 2/19 while Rashid, Naveen and Karim picked up a wicket each
Earlier Pakistan had won the toss and elected to bat first against Afghanistan in the second T20I of the three-match series here on Sunday.
PLAYING XIs
Pakistan:Shadab Khan (c), Mohammad Haris, Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Tayyab Tahir, Mohammad Nawaz, Azam Khan, Imad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Zaman Khan, Ihsanullah.
Afghanistan:Usman Ghani, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan (c), Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq.
