Pakistan defeated Afghanistan by 1 wicket in a nail-biting thriller on August 24 at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium in Hambantota. In the PAK vs AFG second ODI, Naseem Shah displayed brilliant temperament after the dismissal of Shadab Khan as he finished the game with a boundary on the penultimate delivery of the contest.
Afghanistan looked in complete control of the game after posting a massive total of 300-5 on a sluggish wicket. At the end of the 48th over, the Pakistan side needed 27 more runs to seal the victory while they had just 2 wickets in hand making things even worse for the Men in Green.
The pair of Shadab Khan and Naseem Shah was on the crease as the last ray of hope for the Babar Azam-led side. Shadab smashed a four and a six on the last two deliveries of the 49th over bowled by pacer Abdul Rahman and brought his team back into the game.
Naseem Shah seals the game for Pakistan with a boundary on the penultimate delivery
After getting 16 runs in the 49th over and with Shadab and Naseem on the crease, Pakistan looked favourites to win the clash. However, Afghanistan left-arm pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi who came in to bowl the final over had different plans.
Farooqi attempted a run-out at the non-striker’s end as Shadab Khan was backing up a bit too much. The Afghanistan fielders made an appeal and the decision was referred to the third umpire who ruled it in favor of the fielding side as Shadab was found out of his crease.
Pakistan still needed 11 runs off the final 6 deliveries with just 1 wicket in hand and things looked pretty tough for the Men in Green. However, Naseem Shah smashed a four of the first delivery and made his intentions pretty clear.
NEVER MESS WITH NASEEM SHAH pic.twitter.com/kn5zwyIhNb
— hareer🇵🇰 (@pctforlifee) August 24, 2023
On the last 2 deliveries, the Babar Azam-led side needed 3 runs and both sides had the opportunity to seal the game. Naseem once again showed brilliant temperament in the intense situation and smashed a boundary towards the third man region and took off the celebratory sprint as they won the second PAK vs AFG ODI by 1 wicket.
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Earlier, Afghanistan keeper-batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz had played a scintillating knock of 151 runs. However, the crucial knocks played by Shadab Khan and Naseem made sure that Gurbaz’s efforts were in vain as the Pakistan team attained an unassailable lead of 2-0.