Barring a heavy upset, the result of the one-off match between Pakistan and Afghanistan at Sharjah was a no-brainer for the former were playing their first ODI against a full member country. However, this Af-Pak affair would remain in memory for sometime due to the lively show that Afghanistan managed to put up despite being pitted against an in-form and superior opponent. First they batted with intent, sometimes more than what was required, to score 195 all-out and then tested the fragile Pakistan top-order before the experience of Misbah and Younis put paid to their hopes. Afghanistan may not have set the stage on fire during the seven wicket loss but they have done enough to warrant more chances of playing against other top-flight teams frequently.
Electing to bat first on a flat Sharjah track, Afghanistan batted with freedom and fearlessness. Not bothered by the class of bowlers they were dealing with; the feisty Afghan batsmen went for their strokes from the very start. They hit half a dozen sixes against an attack that is considered to be one of the best in the world. But, Pakistan were too good to be troubled by few enterprising batsmen as Shahid Afridi scythed through the line-up to pick up five wickets. Afghanistan were all-out for 195 with opener Karim Sadiq’s 40 being the top-score.
The first scoring shot of Afghanistan innings was a sumptuous flick by Karim as Umar Gul marginally strayed onto his pads. Against the new balls, Karim went hard despite losing his partner Noor Ali Zadran early. And, most of the times his audacious shots were refreshing to watch, the best of the lot being a loft on a Gul slower delivery that disappeared over long-on. Wahab Riaz at the other end was smacked for three successive boundaries by Mohammad Shahzad, who also reverse-swept Saeed Ajmal for a monstrous six.
With Afghanistan scoring freely, Afridi had to bowl relatively early, in the tenth over. However, it took him only two deliveries to break through as Asad Shafiq took a blinder to send back Shahzad. Skipper Nawroz Mangal became Afridi’s second victim, clean bowled playing a wild heave. Karim was caught behind off the same bowler and when Gulbodin Naib was trapped in front by an Afridi googly, Afghanistan had lost half their side for 101.Mohammad Nabi and Shamiullah Shenwari got starts but failed to convert them into anything substantial. The 46-run partnership between the two pushed Afghanistan past 150 but regular wickets towards the end prevented the score from breaching 200.
In reply, Pakistan openers had a tough time dealing with the Afghanistan new ball pair of Zadrans- Shapoor and Dawlat. Mohammad Hafeez was constantly troubled by the movement Dawlat got from the pitch and almost inevitably dragged an in cutter onto the stumps. Asad Shafiq scored 20 runs, all in boundaries before another Dawlat inducker hit him plumb in front.
Imran Farhat too struggled to get going at the start but didn’t throw it away like Shafiq and Hafeez. He withered the initial period before hitting a couple of confidence boosting strokes. Just when the south paw started to cut loose, having hit three boundaries in one Hamza Hotak over, Shamiullah caught him off his own bowling for 52.
This brought together two stalwarts of the Pakistan middle order, Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq. For the inexperienced Afghanistan batsmen, they next few overs were like a class about sensible batting as the two veterans went about their job with minimum of fuss. Anything even marginally off-line was dealt with severity and good balls were treated with respect, a simple mantra for batting which Afghanistan lacked in the first innings. Younis remained unbeaten on 65-ball 70 and Misbah was solid as ever for his 40 as Pakistan romped home with 12.5 overs to spare.
Afghanistan may have been easily outclassed by Pakistan but their performance was good enough to suggest that Afghanistan can become a decent side in future if groomed properly.
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