ISLAMABAD: Pakistan beat Afghanistan by one wicket with only one ball to spare on Thursday, clinching the three-match series 2-0 courtesy of a stellar half-century by opener Imam-ul-Haq and a late blitz by Shadab Khan and Naseem Shah.
Chasing Afghanistan's impressive target of 301 runs at Hambantota, Pakistan's upper order made decent contributions with batters Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam scoring 30 and 53 runs respectively. Haq managed to pull Pakistan out of the woods once Azam and Zaman fell to the Afghan bowlers by scoring a fighting half-century.
Pakistani batters Muhammad Rizwan, Agha Salman and Iftikhar Ahmed managed to score only 2, 14, and 17 respectively before all-rounder Shadab Khan scored an impressive 48 runs from 35 balls to give Pakistan some hope of victory.
All looked lost for Pakistan when Fazalhaq Farooqi ran out Khan in the last over and with only one wicket in hand, the green shirts needed 11 runs off the last over.
Shah hit a boundary off the first ball before taking a single, handing the strike to Haris Rauf, who handed the strike back to Shah after scoring three runs.
With Pakistan needing three runs off two balls, Shah put an end to the suspense when a thick outside edge off his bat resulted in the ball running to the fence for a boundary. Pakistan had won.
Pakistan's victory over Afghanistan brought back to memory their last year's win in similar fashion against Afghanistan at the Asia Cup 2022.
It was Farooqi who was bowling to Shah in the last over of the match. Pakistan needed 11 runs and had two wickets in hand before Shah slapped Farooqi for two sixes in the last over, ensuring Pakistan won by two wickets.
Pakistan's latest win means the green shirts remain undefeated in ODIs against Afghanistan.
