Pakistan’s opponents in the Super 12 round of the T20 World Cup were given a hint of what to expect when they will face Shaheen Shah Afridi, as the pacer was looking his usual best, against Afghanistan in the warm-up match.
Pakistan elected to field first in the warm-up match against a Mohammad Nabi-led side and Shaheen delivered a one-run over with a wicket at the top, sending a warning that he has recovered fully from the knee injury.
Such was the venom in Shaheen’s fifth delivery of the first over that Rahmanullah Gurbaz had to be taken to the hospital for a scan on his toe, as his left foot came in the way of Pakistani pacer’s in-swinging yorker and the stumps.
Shaheen then bowled Hazratullah Zazai with a low full-toss as the Afghan opener tried to move back and hit him over the covers.
In the last warm-up match before Pakistan face India in their blockbuster Super 12 opener, Pakistan tried six bowlers, but were unable to dismiss the complete Afghan batting line-up.
After losing four wickets for a paltry 48, Afghanistan recovered courtesy Ibrahim Zadran’s stead 35 off 34 balls.
Pakistan bagged two quick wickets on the score of 81 and 82, but to their surprise the pair of captain Nabi and lower-middle-order batter Usman Ghani put on a valuable partnership to steer Afghanistan to a respectable 154-6 in 20 overs.
In their reply, Pakistan could only bat 2.2 overs before rain interrupted play and the match was eventually declared a no-result.
Unlike the England warm-up game, which Pakistan lost by six wickets after Shan Masood and Haider Ali opened the innings, the usual openers, skipper Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan came out to bat in the chase.
Rizwan hadn’t opened his account even after facing eight balls, while Babar scored six runs off six balls. The total of 19 runs after 2.2 overs was courtesy 13 wides bowled by Afghanistan.
