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'What a moment for Afghanis' - Fans rejoice as Afghanistan script their first-ever win over Pakistan in T20I cricket

Afghanistan scripted history by registering their first win against Pakistan in T20I cricket after winning the series opener by 6 wickets.

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Akshay
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'What a moment for Afghanis' - Fans rejoice as Afghanistan script their first-ever win over Pakistan in T20I cricket

(Source - Twitter)

publive-image (Source - Twitter)

Afghanistan made history by beating Pakistan by six wickets in the series opener at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday, March 24. A scintillating performance by the Afghan bowlers saw them register their first T20 international win against Pakistan and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series. Chasing a low score on a pitch that was pretty challenging to bat on, Afghanistan were made to sweat, but Mohammad Nabi and Najibullah Zadran held their nerve to take the team home.

Pakistan played with four debutants - Saim Ayub, Tayyab Tahir, Ihsanullah and Zaman Khan - as they rested a few main players, including captain Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. The Shadab Khan-led team won the toss and opted to bat first, but nothing went right for them on a slow and low pitch. In the absence of key openers Babar and Rizwan, Ayub and Mohammad Haris opened the innings but they could not get off to a good start as both fell within the batting powerplay.

Pakistan were 41-5 in the eighth over and ended up for 92/9 after 20 overs - their fifth-lowest total in T20Is. Not a single Pakistan batters could play responsibly when the Afghan bowlers tightened up the screws. Their top scorer was Imad Wasim who scored 18 runs off 32 balls. Fazalhaq Farooqi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Nabi picked up two wickets each for Afghanistan.

"Sometimes 38 is equivalent to a 100": Nabi

In reply, Rashid Khan-led team were made to toil hard to chase down the target. Chasing a below-100 target, the Afghan batters started well but threatened to spoil the party for their neighbours when Ihsanullah took two wickets in the fifth over. However, former Afghan captain Nabi played a sensible innings with Najibullah Zadran and got over the target with 13 balls to spare. Nabi scored an unbeaten 38 and finished off the game in style, smashing Ihsanullah for a six to register a historic win.

"Tough to chase in these conditions. As a batting group, my plan was to bat on and take responsibility. Most of the guys are playing in big leagues. Some guys came from the PSL. We wanted to do our best in the series. Sometimes 38 is equivalent to a 100 in conditions like these," Nabi said at the post-match presentation.

Here's how Twitter reacted to Afghanistan's win:Β 

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