‘Aesa lag raha hai World Cup jeet gaye ho’- Fans react as Pakistan beat Afghanistan by 1 wicket in second ODI

Pakistan found an unlikely hero in Naseem Shah as the men in green stole a late win against Afghanistan on Thursday. The three-match series between Pakistan and Afghanistan is being played in Sri Lanka.

The first game saw Pakistan win convincingly after Babar Azam led the side and successfully defended 201. Haris Rauf picked his first ODI five-wicket haul to bowl out Afghanistan for a mere 59.

Afghanistan won the toss and chose to bat first and made two changes to the team. Riaz Hassan and Shahidullah came in to the playing XI. Pakistan meanwhile went in with the same team that had won the 1^st game.

Batting first after winning the toss, Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored his 5^th ODI ton. Gurbaz scored a career-best 151 off 151 balls with 14 fours and 3 sixes. He was supported well by Ibrahim Zadran who scored 80 off 101 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes. The two openers added 227 for the 1^st wicket. Mohammad Nabi with 29 and captain Shahidi with 15 saw Afghanistan post 300 on the board.

Imam Ul Haq and Babar Azam stage a strong fightback 

Chasing 301 to win, Fakhar Zaman was bowled for 30 after adding 52 for the 1^st wicket. The pair of Imam Ul Haq and Babar Azam then staged the comeback with 118 runs for the 2^nd wicket. The stand came in 21.4 overs, that’s when Farooqi got the wicket of Azam for 53 off 66 balls with 6 fours.

Post the wicket of Babar Azam, the Afghan side seemed to find a second wind. Mohammad Rizwan was run out for 2. This was followed by Agha Salman get dismissed by Mohammad Nabi for 14. Nabi struck again 2 balls later dismissing Usama Mir for a duck.

Mujeeb then came into the party as he got the big wicket of Imam Ul Haq. The opener’s knock came off 105 balls with 4 fours.

At 211/6, Pakistan needed 90 runs to win with 67 balls left. That’s when Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed joined forces to add 47 for the 7^th wicket. Shadab Khan scored valuable 48 runs off 35 balls with 3 fours and a six.

At the end of the 49^th over, Pakistan needed 11 runs for a win and 10 runs for a tie. Shah hit the first ball for a four to make it 6 off 5. This was followed by a dot ball and that was followed by a single to make it 5 off 3. Haris Rauf then got three runs to make it 2 needed off 2 balls. Shah then ended the contest when he hit a four off a thick inside edge. Pakistan won the game by 1 wicket with a ball to spare to take a 2-0 lead in the series.

Here’s how the fans reacted:

What a crazy match between Pakistan and Afghanistan!

Pakistan emerges victorious with just 1 wickets and a ball to spare. Afghanistan made a great comeback in this match, tough luck for them! pic.twitter.com/14mMap3ptU

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) August 24, 2023

Fluke win

— Dennis❤️ (@DenissForReal) August 24, 2023

Won World Cup after 20 years or what ?

— User45 (@140off113) August 24, 2023

Afg taking match to this depth against Pak is already their achievement..
Well played boys

— Avishek Goyal (@AG_knocks) August 24, 2023

https://twitter.com/doctor_jango/status/1694770334958833749

https://twitter.com/TasneemKhatai1/status/1694770481159950597

Afghanistan are unlucky in close games. They would have beaten Pakistan 3-4 times but they slipped at last moment. They failed to hold the nerves. They need to learn from these errors.

— CHARLIE (@CharlieGulshan) August 25, 2023

Naseem shah is a nightmare for Afghan, blockbuster match.

— Rahul Varma (@urscoolrahul) August 24, 2023