SHARJAH, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz claimed a hat trick and inspired Pakistan to a 75-run win in the final of the Twenty20 tri-series as Afghanistan crashed to its second lowest-ever T20 score of 66 on Sunday.
Afghanistan’s spinners, led by Rashid Khan’s 3-38, had earlier limited Pakistan to 141-8 which was the lowest total by teams batting first in the tournament that also featured United Arab Emirates.
“It was the kind of wicket where even 130-140 was always going to be challenging and once we got there, we knew it would be tough for them,” Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha said.
“Since Nawaz’s comeback, he’s been outstanding, performing brilliantly in all departments. For me, he’s the guy I can rely on in tough situations.”
Nawaz (5-19) sliced through the Afghan middle-order with the wickets of Darwish Rasooli and Azmatullah Omarzai off the last two balls of his first over in the powerplay. He became only the third Pakistani bowler to achieve a hat trick in T20s when in-form batter Ibrahim Zadran was stumped off the first ball of Nawaz’s second over.
Fast bowlers Faheem Ashraf and Mohammad Hasnain achieved hat tricks for Pakistan against Sri Lanka in 2017 and 2019, respectively.
Nawaz had Afghanistan on the mat with four wickets for just one run in his first two overs when he also had Karim Janat leg before wicket off a straight delivery before he rounded off a perfect night at Sharjah Cricket Stadium by claiming the wicket of Khan in his final over.
Khan, playing in his 100th T20 for Afghanistan, top-scored for his team with 17 while Sediqullah Atal made 13 as none of the other batters could reach double-figures with two specialist spinners Sufiyan Muqeem (2-9) and Abrar Ahmed (2-17) also baffling the batters.
“I feel like that was a chaseable total but we didn’t play the brand of cricket we wanted,” Khan said. “Losing five wickets inside the powerplay made it really hard to bounce back … it’s important for us to learn from these conditions ahead of the Asia Cup.”
Pakistan had earlier chosen to bat first and stuttered to 72-5 in the 12th over before Nawaz revived the innings by contributing 25 runs off 21 balls and sharing a 40-run stand with Agha, who made 24 before falling to Khan in the 17th over.
On a spinning wicket, Pakistan batters struggled and Saim Ayub was limited to 17 runs off 19 balls while Fakhar Zaman couldn’t read Khan’s straight delivery and was out plumb leg before wicket for 27 in 26 deliveries.
But Pakistan’s template of going with a fleet of all-rounders bailed them out and gave the team confidence ahead of the Asia Cup, starting in UAE on Tuesday.
“We wanted to prepare in a way that helps us for the Asia Cup and we’ve done that,” Agha said. “We’ve been doing really well since the Bangladesh home series. Finally, we’re in very good shape and fully prepared for the Asia Cup.”
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
