Skipper Salman Agha hit an unbeaten half-century and fast bowler Haris Rauf grabbed four wickets as Pakistan upstaged Afghanistan by 39 runs in the Twenty20 International tri series opener in Sharjah on Friday.
Right-handed salman hit a 36-ball 53 not out with three sixes and as many boundaries which lifted Pakistan to a solid 182-7 in their 20 overs.
Haris took 4-31 while fellow pacer Shaheen Afridi claimed 2-21, while spinners Mohammad Nawaz (2-23) and Sufiyan Muqeem (2-25) dismissed Afghanistan for 143 in 19.5 overs before a noisy capacity 16,000 crowd at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Afghanistan matched Pakistan with opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz, 27-ball 38 with a six and three boundaries, adding 51 for the second wicket with Sediqullah Atal, who made 23.
It was right-armer Haris who changed the game with a two-wicket 12th over sending Atal and Karim Janat back without conceding a run.
Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan smashed five sixes and a four in his whirlwind 16-ball 39 but fell to Haris to end his team’s fight.
Salman, who was named man-of-the-match for his fighting knock, said staying at the wicket helped him score solidly later on.
“I saw the first seven-eight overs, it was holding [for the spinners when they bowled slow and for the change-ups of pacers]. I knew that if I could get in, I could hit sixes against any bowlers, and that is what I did,” Salman said in his post-match talk.
Commenting on Pakistan’s batting against spin bowling, the skipper said that the team were ready for the challenge.
“I am not as good as I used to be, but we came here ten days early, and we know there is going to be a lot of spin and we are up to that challenge,” he said.
