COLOMBO, Aug 25 (Reuters) – Pakistani striker Naseem Shah once again brought down Afghan Fazalhaq Farooqi in a cliffhanger final on Thursday, his latest heroic act securing a thrilling victory in the second one-day international match in Hambantota.
Nearly 11 months after hitting Farooqi with six straight sixes to a sensational victory in an Asia Cup Twenty20 match, Naseem was once again the enemy of the Afghan sailor.
Responding to Afghanistan’s solid 300-5, built around opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s run-a-ball 151, Pakistan got to 290-8 before Farooqi again bowled the drama-filled final over.
He started by sending off Shadab Khan (48) for getting too far forward on the non-striking side, a legal dismissal despite being perceived by many as contrary to the spirit of the game.
Naseem hit the first ball of the over for a four and singled in the third delivery. Haris Rauf then took three runs off the fourth inning, leaving Naseem on strike and Pakistan needing three of the last two balls.
The 20-year-old hit the fifth ball to seal the win and celebrated by running off the field, throwing his helmet and bat to the ground and throwing down his batting gloves before being mobbed by his teammates.
“We knew we could chase 80 or 90 in the last 10 overs,” Pakistan captain Babar Azam said after they took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
“In critical situations, Naseem has performed well.”
Afghan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi lamented the missed opportunity.
“It hurts me because we had enough runs but at the last minute they took the game away from us.” he said.
The final ODI of the series is scheduled for Saturday in Colombo. Afghanistan plays its “home” games in Sri Lanka for security reasons.
Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; edited by Peter Rutherford
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Discover more from PressNewsAgency
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.