Match Details

AFG vs PAK, 24th T20, T20 WC 2021 summary

PAK

148-5(19.0)

Pakistan won by 5 wickets

AFG

(20.0)147-6

Match info

Summary

Scorecard

Commentary

That's all we have from the commentary box. Do join us for another doubleheader tomorrow. Till then it's ta-ta and goodnight from me, Arjun Bhalla, on the behalf of my fellow commentators Anurag Dasgupta and Akshay Bhide.

Babar Azam| Winning Captain: "All thanks to the Almighty. Bowlers started off well, but I think we gave away 10-15 runs too many. As you all saw, we all batted in partnerships and then Asif Ali and Shoaib Malik took us all the line. He (Asif Ali) is known for this and I was confident pre-tournament itself that he would deliver when needed. We planned our strategies well with the ball, and also ensured that he kept the uneven boundary dimensions in mind while bowling. Spinners were getting some grip from the track, Afghanistan have quality bowlers too and I was trying to take it as deep as possible. And in the end, Asif did it for us. He did what is known for."

Mohammad Nabi: "We did a fine job with the bat in the first innings. It was a decent total on this wicket. We discussed in the middle and thought that we will attack in the last three overs. Three spinners are enough and Rashid bowled brilliantly. The time for him to come into the attack was right. But credit to Asif Ali for the way he played in the end. This game will give us extra motivation in the upcoming games."

Asif Ali | Player of the Match: "All the credit goes to my Allah who has helped me a lot. When I went in there, Naveen was bowling well so I told Shoaib Bhai (Shoaib Mailk) that we won't throw our wickets away. The boundaries were small from this end so I decided to take on my chances. I look at the situation and what it demands and I play accordingly. I knew I can even score 25 runs in an over so I planned it accordingly."

Arjun: Holy lord!!!! What have we witnessed in the last five minutes or so? It was Asif Ali who turned into "Remember the Name" and thumped four-sixes against pacer in a T20 WC game, only difference you ask was it was not a final and the batter didn't go four-sixes on a roll. Nonetheless, it's a night that belongs to Pakistan. It's a night that belongs to Asif Ali!!!

Both Afghanistan and Pakistan played the game of cat and mouse through this innings, it is the latter who will sleep with a grin on their face. The Mohammad Nabi-led side just had a respectable total of 148 runs, but they had three quality spinners in their arsenal, but the Pakistan batting was too much for them.

Mujeeb and Nabi took the command with the new ball and the mystery spinner got rid of Md. Rizwan. The Aghani bowling wasn’t about scalping wickets but one brilliant thing they did was, keeping the lid on the run flow.

Pakistan played off Mujeeb and didn’t give any other wicket to him. If the mystery spinner finished his quota, they had a magician named Rashid Khan. The leggie got Babar trapped on the front foot, in the very first over, but DRS overturned the decision. The skipper didn’t put his foot on the paddle and knocked the ball around to take the chase deeper.

Meanwhile Nabi scalped Hafeez and Rashid ripped Babar on the 24th (legal) delivery of his spell, after the skipper notched another fifty. Naveen then got Malik and Afghanistan were ahead in the game, with 24 runs to defend in the last two. Every cricket pundit, every cricketing fanatic would have bagged Afghanistan to end the night on a winning note.

But they had a hurdle named Asif to face. Pakistan's finisher, as they say, had different plans. He just went behind Janit and spanked him for maximum, whenever the part-time seamer erred his lengths. In the end, Asif Ali gets the Man of the Match for his brisk cameo of 25 off just seven deliveries.

OVER 19

Pakistan

148/5

Asif Ali

25(7)

Shadab Khan

0(1)

Karim Janat

0-48(4.0)

18.6 K Janat to A Ali

6 HIGHER AND HIGHER, ASIF'S ON FIRE! He has done the job once again for his nation. Wow, simply unbelievable. Pakistan have won this game by 5 wickets. Bowls a length delivery on the off and Asif Ali won't miss out on those. He crouches and slashes it deep into the deep cover fence to seal the deal for his nation.

Akshay: This is amazing from Asif Ali. He retained the strike for this over and is one shot away from sealing the game for his side.

18.5 K Janat to A Ali

6 Ooooff what an over! Asif Ali won the game against New Zealand and he might have won the game here also. Another length delivery and inviting the batter to go big here. Asif Ali clears the front leg from the picture and tonks it downtown for a HUGE hit.