Najibullah sets up crushing win for Afghanistan A

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