Shoaib Malik's 51* saves Pakistan from losing against Afghanistan

Experienced Shoaib Malik conjured up a crucial unbeaten 51 under pressure as Pakistan survived a scare from Afghanistan winning their Super Four match of the Asia Cup by three wickets here on FridayChasing a competitive 258 to win Pakistan overhauled the target with just three balls to spare with former captain Malik playing the matchwinning knock from 43 balls Pakistan required 10 runs from the last over and Malik dispatched pacer Aftab Alam for a six and four after playing a dot ball Wickets kept falling for Pakistan with star Afghan spinner Rashid Khan yet again proving his utility with a three wicket haul but Malik held his nerves to keep one end tightBefore Malik ImamulHaq 80 and Babar Azam 60 hit patient halfcenturies in a 154run stand but the slow run rate made it difficult for Pakistan Electing to bat Hashmatullah Shahidi 97 missed out on his maiden ODI hundred by just three runs after skipper Asghar Afghan hit a combative 67 off 56 balls as Afghanistan scored a fighting 257 for six Their 94run partnership and some terrific batting towards the end by the Afghans made it an interesting contest as they scored 87 runs in the last 10 oversPakistan made a shaky start losing opener Fakhar Zaman in the sixth ball of the innings bowled by Mujeeb ur Rahman but after that Azam and Imam taking control of the proceedings though the runrate was always shooting up At the halfway mark Pakistan had put on board just 103 for one with required touching going beyond six but they the cushion of nine wicketsThe two batsmen out on 154 runs for the second wicket before the bespectacled Imam was run out in the 34th over It was Najibullah Zadrans direct hit which found Imam short His 80run knock came off 104 balls with four shots to the fence and one over the ropes Nine balls later Rashid Khan had Azam stumped It was when Pakistan needed exact 100 runs from 15 overs Pakistan lost Haris Sohail 13 Sarfraz Ahmad 8 Asif Ali 7 and Mohammad Nawaz 10 with Afghan bowlers fighting hardIn the end former captain Maliks experience saw them cross the finish the line Earlier Shahidi needed a boundary off the last ball to complete his century but Hasan Ali denied him the milestone with a incoming yorker which the lefthander could not put away With his skipper Asghar Shahidi shared a matchchanging 94run stand for the fourth wicket Shahidi shifted gears with ease after largely remaining patient in his unbeaten and careerbest knock which came off 118 balls He was bowled off a no ball when he was on 76 in the penultimate overFive of his seven boundaries came during the last 14 balls of the Afghan innings Asghar had joined lefthanded Shahidi at the crease after leftarm spinner Mohammad Nawaz 357 removed the top three Afghan batsmen Mohammad Shahzad 20 Ihsanullah 10 and Rahmat Shah 36In his 67run knock Asghar showed both aggression and patience and Shahidi was determined holding one end tight Asghar chose right deliveries to go for big shots hitting five sixes and two fours Shahidi and Asghar were tested by the Pakistan pace duo of Hasan Ali and Usman Khan but they refused to be intimidated by the raw pace They were sensible in defending and leaving the balls which moved after pitching outside off stump They kept the scoreboard ticking with pushing and nudging the ball aroundBreakthrough not coming Pakistan captain Sarfraz handed the ball back to Nawaz but Asghar creamed off 11 runs from his over hitting a four and six to end the long boundary drought Both the batsmen completed their halfcenturies in the 40th over bowled by young leftarm pacer Shaheen Afridi With few overs left Asghar started hitting each everything thrown at him and was bowled by Afridi after being dropped by Haris Sohail in the 42nd overCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Except for the change in headline the story has been provided ASIS AS AVAILABLE without any verification or editing from our side Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever