(Cricket news) Pakistan produced an all round performance against second placed Afghanistan in the ICC T20 World Cup. Pakistan seems to be on a roll as it achieved its third consecutive victory to maintain a strong control at the top of the points table. Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi won the toss and chose to bat first.

The openers didn't spend much time on the crease as Imad Wasim and Shaheen Afridi struck in successive overs. The Afghanistan batters did not stand a chance against the Pakistani bowlers as the score read 76-6 in 13 overs. Nabi and Gulbadin Naib brought together their experience which resulted in a 60 run partnership as they scored valuable runs and did not let Pakistani bowlers take any more wickets. All the Pakistani bowlers took wickets in their spell as Afridi and Shadab Khan kept their economy under 6 while taking a wicket each. 

Pakistani batters now had a target of 148 in 20 overs which was pretty reasonable. Opener Mohammad Rizwan attempted a couple of swep shots and tried one more off Mujeeb Ur Rahman but was caught by a well controlled effort by Naveen-ul-Haq at the boundary line. Fakhar Zaman and captain Babar Azam then attacked the Afghan bowlers to keep the chase on until Nabi bowled a straight one to Zaman which he tried to loft but hit the pads for a leg before wicket. 

Pakistan now needed 73 runs from 53 balls as 41 year old Mohammad Hafeez walked in at the crease but it turned out to be a short stint when he couldn’t send the ball over the distance to give Rashid Khan his 100th T20 wicket in his 53rd match. Rashid was not done as he took the prized wicket of Babar to give Afghanistan an equal chance in the match and Pakistan needed 24 runs in two overs with Asif Ali and Shadab on the crease. 

Karim Janat was brought in to bowl the 19th over and his final one in the match. Asif struck the first ball for a six as the match once again turned in favour of Pakistan and he made sure things were finished before the final over as he struck four sixes to hand Afghanistan its first defeat of the event. Mujeeb Ur Rahman was the pick of the bowlers from the Afghan team as his economy was under 4 and also took a wicket as Rashid Khan took two wickets while keeping his economy under 7.

Afghanistan 147/6 in 20 overs and Pakistan 148/5 in 19 overs.

Pakistan won by 5 wickets, Man of the match Asif Ali: 25 runs of 7 balls.

Also read: West Indies defeat Bangladesh by three runs to keep T20 World Cup title defense alive