India knocked out out of Asia Cup 2022, Naseem Shah's twin sixes help Pakistan beat Afghanistan and reach final

Pakistan beat Afghanistan in a last-over thriller to qualify for the final of Asia Cup 2022 on Wednesday night (September 7). Needing 130 to win, Pakistan struggled throughout the chase as Afghan bowlers bowled in right areas to take the game deep. With Asif Ali too departing in the penultimate over, Pakistan needed 11 to win from 6 balls with just 1 wicket in hand, Naseem Shah smashed Fazalhaq Farooqi for 2 back to back sixes to take his side past the winning mark and book the spot in the final. 

With that win, Pakistan have knocked both India and Afghanistan out of the Asia Cup 2022. With four points each, Pakistan and Sri Lanka qualified for the title clash.

Naseem Shah "when I came out to bat I had belief that I could hit sixes. I knew that they would try to bowl yorkers due to the field they had set. I tried my best and Allah helped me" #AFGvPAK #AsiaCup — Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) September 7, 2022

Yet another heart break for Afghanistan against Pakistan

AC 2018: __ won 3 balls to spare
ODI WC 2019: __ won 2 balls to spare
T20 WC 2021: __ won 6 balls to spare
AC 2022: __ won 4 balls to spare — Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) September 7, 2022

India and Afghanistan will lock horns in their final Super 4 match on Thursday, which has been rendered inconsequential. Pakistan had a torrid time during their chase, losing skipper Babar Azam (0) early as the batter endured another failure after being trapped LBW by Fazalhaq Farooqi (3/31) in the second ball of the innings.

To make matters worse for Pakistan, Fakhar Zaman (5) was run out in the first delivery of the fourth over, off a direct throw from Najibullah Zadran. Afghanistan got the upper hand when Rashid Khan (2/25) trapped in-form Mohammad Rizwan (20) in front of the wicket with a peach of a delivery that was sure to hit the middle stump, crashing the batter on to his back foot after pitching just outside the off-stump.

Most Finals Played in Asia Cup

12 times - Srilanka*
10 times - India
5 times - Pakistan*
3 times - Bangladesh

— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) September 7, 2022

On the back foot after losing three key batters, Shadab Khan (36) took the attack to the opposition and clobbered Mohammad Nabi for a six and a four in the 12th over to break the shackles. Shadab was at his attacking best as he sent a Mujeeb delivery over long-on boundary to being down the equation. Fareed Ahmed (3/31) brought Afghanistan back into the match by breaking the dangerous-looking 45-run fifth-wicket stand between Iftikhar Ahmed (30) and Shadab. Ifitkhar pulled a slower short delivery straight to the hands of Ibrahim Zadran as the batter failed to get any elevation.

New man in, Mohammad Nawaz made his intentions clear and guided another short delivery of Ahmed past the wicketkeeper to the third man boundary. But Shadab looked in ominous form as he slog-swept Rashid over the boundary to ease the pressure. However, Rashid had the last laugh as he dismissed Shadab in the next ball with the batter thick-edging one to Azmatullah Omarzai at short third man.

But there was hardly any respite for Rashid as Asif Ali slog-swept him for another six in the very next ball. Two wickets in the 18th over bowled by Fazalhaq Farooqi tilted the balance of the match in Afghanistan's favour . He first dismissed Nawaz and then went through the defence of Khushdil Shah as Pakistan lost the plot. Fareed Ahmed then cleaned up Haris Rauf in the first delivery of the next over as Pakistan slumped to 110 for eight. Fareed Ahmed delivered another telling blow to Pakistan in the penultimate ball of the 19th over, scalping the vital wicket of Asif Ali. With 11 needed from the final over, Naseem Shah showed his batting skills, smashing Fazalhaq Farooqi for back-to-back sixes to seal the match in Pakistan's favour. Earlier, Pakistan dished out a fine bowling display to restrict Afghanistan to a below-par 129 for six. Afghanistan made a positive start after being sent in to bat with Hazratullah Zazai (21) and wicket-keeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz (17) sharing 36 runs for the opening wicket.

6__ 6__ _

Unbelievable end to the #AsiaCup2022 game!

Naseem Shah wins it for Pakistan in the final over with one wicket left _#PAKvAFG | #AsiaCup2022 | Scorecard: https://t.co/4ppyUfkluv pic.twitter.com/F1A0B3DoSC

— ICC (@ICC) September 7, 2022

After a sedate opening over, Afghanistan broke free in the next over with Gurbaz hitting Mohammad Hasnain for back-to-back sixes to pick up 16 runs. Zazai matched his partner by finding the boundary twice in the next over before Haris Rauf cleaned up Gurbaz in the fifth delivery of the fourth over. Despite the fall of wicket, Zazai continued his attacking vein, hitting Hasnain for a boundary before perishing in the fifth delivery after the bowler castled him with a deceptive slower delivery. Karim Janat (15) and Ibrahim Zadran (35 off 37) then tried to steady the ship as Afghanistan reached 72 for two in 10 overs. With runs hard to come by, Janat tried to force the pace of the innings but in vain as he was holed out by Fakhar Zaman off Mohammad Nawaz in the 12th over while trying for an extravagant slog sweep. 

With PTI inputs