AFG vs PAK 1st Match: Rashid Khan's innings of over 240 strike rate went in vain, Pakistan won due to Haris Rauf's four
Afghanistan vs Pakistan 1st Match Highlights: Pakistan has won by 39 runs against Afghanistan in the first match of the tri-series. Rashid Khan played an explosive innings with a strike rate of over 240, but Haris Rauf took four wickets to give his team victory.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are playing a tri-series of T20 International matches hosted by UAE. The first match of the series was played between Afghanistan and Pakistan on Friday, with Pakistan winning by 39 runs. Batting first, Pakistan's team scored 182 runs for the loss of seven wickets in the stipulated 20 overs, thanks to captain Salman Aga's fifty. In response, Afghanistan's team was all out for 143 runs in 19.5 overs. Afghanistan's captain Rashid Khan played a stormy innings of 39 runs in 16 balls at a strike rate of over 240, but Haris Rauf took four wickets to give his team victory.
After winning the toss and batting first, Pakistan got a great start. They scored 54 runs for the loss of 1 wicket in the powerplay, although their top 3 batsmen, Sahibzada Farhan 21 runs, Sam Ayub 14 runs, and Fakhar Zaman got out on personal scores of 20.
Then, Captain Salman Agha played an unbeaten half-century innings of 53 runs off 36 balls, and the team scored 182 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in the stipulated 20 overs. For Afghanistan, Farid Ahmed took two wickets, while 4 bowlers, including Rashid-Mujeeb, took 1 wicket each.
The Afghan team, chasing a target of 183, lost their first wicket on the last ball of the third over when Shaheen Afridi clean bowled Ibrahim Zadran (9). Then Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored 38, Sediqullah scored 23, and Darwish scored 21 runs in short innings to take the team closer to the target.
After this, the middle order seemed to falter. In the lower order, Rashid Khan batted at number 8 and scored 39 runs with the help of 1 four and 5 sixes, but he could not succeed in making his team win. In this way, the entire Afghanistan team was all out for 143 in 19.5 overs.
For Pakistan, Haris Rauf took the maximum four wickets, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Nawaz and Sufiyan Muqeem took two wickets each. The second match of the series will be played today on 30 August between Pakistan and UAE in Sharjah.
