On Friday, Afghanistan beat Pakistan by six wickets in the series opener, marking the Afghan side’s first T20 win over their neighbors. Pakistan struggled on a slow and low pitch at Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the UAE after opting to bat first, missing five rested front-line players, including captain Babar Azam. Pakistan handed T20I debuts to Saim Ayub, Tayyab Tahir, Ihsanullah, and Zaman Khan. However, none of the Pakistan batters could accelerate on the two-paced pitch and mostly fell to soft dismissals. Replacements Ayub and Mohammad Haris couldn’t gauge the low bounce and fell within the batting power play while attempting extravagant shots. Pakistan was in danger of its lowest T20I total of 74 in 2012 against Australia in Dubai, but Imad Wasim top-scored with 18. Unorthodox spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman took 2-9, and Fazalhaq Farooqi took 2-13. In reply, Afghanistan overcame falling to 45-4 in the 10th over to cruise home at 98-4 and win by six wickets with more than two overs to spare.
It’s definitely a historic win for Afghanistan, and it’s great to see them finally getting a victory over their neighbors after several attempts in the past. It’s also impressive that they were able to adjust to the slow and low pitch and chase down Pakistan’s total with relative ease. It will be interesting to see if they can maintain their momentum and secure a series win in the remaining T20 matches.
