Najibullah Zadran’s blistering half-century helped Afghanistan A crush a star-studded Pakistan A by 54 runs in a Twenty20 match in Islamabad. In a game shortened to 15 overs a side, Najibullah’s 32-ball 67, that included four fours and the same number of sixes, propelled Afghanistan to a strong 154 for 4 before their bowlers stifled Pakistan’s chase and restricted them to 100 for 9.
Opting to bat, Afghanistan started with a flurry of boundaries against Umar Gul and Mohammad Irfan but lost three wickets in three overs to be reduced to 48 for 3 after six. Najibullah was aggressive from the outset, his second scoring shot a six off Raza Hasan, and did not let the scoring rate drop. Afghanistan were 92 for 4 after 10 overs and raised the tempo further in the last five.
Sixty-two runs came in those overs, with Bilawal Bhatti leaking 21 in the 13th. Najibullah started that over with a brace of boundaries, which brought up his fifty off 26 balls, before Samiullah Shenwari smashed consecutive sixes off the last two balls. Then Shenwari ensured a solid finish with 13 runs from the last over bowler by Anwar Ali and was unbeaten on 27 off 14 balls.
Mohammad Nabi then struck with the first ball of Pakistan’s innings, catching Nasir Jamshed off his own bowling. Sohaib Maqsood was dismissed in the next over but the innings suffered the momentum-robbing blows between the ninth and the 11th overs as Pakistan lost four wickets for four runs to be reduced to 71 for 7. They could only add a further 29.
Afghanistan A
Mohammad Shahzad c Saad Nasim b Raza Hasan 17
Najeeb Tarakai c Awais Zia b Mohammad Irfan 18
Hashmatullah Shaidi run out (Saad Nasim) 11
Mohammad Nabi c Nasir Jamshed b Anwar Ali 15
Najibullah Zadran not out 60
Samiullah Shenwari not out 27
Extras (lb 2, w 3, nb 1) 6
Total (4 wickets; 15 overs) 154
Did not batFareed Ahmad, Shafiqullah, Aftab Alam, Gulbadin Naib, M Nasim Baras
Fall of wickets 1-36 (Najeeb Tarakai, 3.5 ov), 2-36 (Mohammad Shahzad, 4.5 ov), 3-48 (Hashmatullah Shaidi, 5.5 ov), 4-87 (Mohammad Nabi, 9.4 ov)
Bowling
Umar Gul 3-0-30-0, Mohammad Irfan 3-0-23-1, Raza Hasan 2-0-11-1, Bilawal Bhatti 3-0-43-0, Saad Nasim 1-0-14-0, Anwar Ali 3-0-31-1
Pakistan A
Nasir Jamshed c & b Mohammad Nabi 0
Awais Zia st †Mohammad Shahzad b Nasim Baras 12
Sohaib Maqsood c Mohammad Nabi b Fareed Ahmad 7
Babar Azam c Najeeb Tarakai b Gulbadin Naib 30
Mohammad Rizwan b Aftab Alam 18
Saad Nasim lbw b Aftab Alam 1
Anwar Ali not out 17
Bilawal Bhatti c †Mohammad Shahzad b Gulbadin Naib 0
Umar Gul c Aftab Alam b Mohammad Nabi 9
Raza Hasan run out (†Mohammad Shahzad) 3
Mohammad Irfan not out 1
Extras (w 2) 2
Total (9 wickets; 15 overs) 100
Fall of wickets 1-0 (Nasir Jamshed, 0.1 ov), 2-7 (Sohaib Maqsood, 1.4 ov), 3-36 (Awais Zia, 5.2 ov), 4-67 (Babar Azam, 8.6 ov), 5-69 (Mohammad Rizwan, 9.4 ov), 6-70 (Saad Nasim, 9.6 ov), 7-71 (Bilawal Bhatti, 10.2 ov), 8-94 (Umar Gul, 13.3 ov), 9-97 (Raza Hasan, 14.2 ov)
Bowling
Mohammad Nabi 3-0-18-2, Fareed Ahmad 3-0-14-1, Aftab Alam 3-0-21-2, M Nasim Baras 2-0-15-1, Gulbadin Naib 4-0-32-2
MATCH DETAILS
Toss – Afghanistan A, who chose to bat
Player of the match – Najibullah Zadran (Afghanistan A)
Umpires – Ahmed Shahab and Ahsan Raza
TV umpire – Rashid Riaz
Match referee – Zaigham Burki
Reserve umpire – Majid Hussain