‘Ab to aadat si hai’ – Fans in splits as Afghanistan register their first-ever win against Pakistan in their 1st T20I

Afghanistan’s men’s cricket team made history on Friday (March 24), defeating Pakistan by six wickets in the first T20I of a three-match series at Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the United Arab Emirates. This was Afghanistan’s first victory over Pakistan in this format of the game.

It was also a dominant win, as Afghanistan bowled out Pakistan for their fifth-lowest T20I total before chasing it down with 2.1 overs remaining. Pakistan batted first after winning the toss and finished with 92 for 9 in their allotted 20 overs. As Pakistan struggled throughout the innings, Imad Wasim led the way with 18 off 32 deliveries.

Afghanistan used six bowlers, and each took at least one wicket. Rashid took the charge and finished with a 1 for 15 spell from his four. Faalhaq Farooqi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, and Nabi each took two wickets, while Azamatullah and Naveen-ul-Haq each took one. With stars like Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam, and Shaheen Shah Afridi missing, this was not Pakistan’s primary team, but the Afghans made the most of it and put in a stellar performance.

Chasing the target, Afghanistan openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran got off to a slow start before three wickets fell for a few runs inside the powerplay. Karim Janat was also dismissed quickly. But then Nabi and Najibullah Zadran came together and stitched an unbeaten 53-run partnership to take Afghanistan home with 6 wickets and 13 balls to spare.

Afghanistan‘s dressing room was ecstatic, and they celebrated the historic victory in grand style. Nabi was named Player of the Match for his game-winning knock and two crucial wickets. He compared his unbeaten 38 to a century because it came during a difficult chase.

“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 in the post-match presentation ceremony.

Here is how Twitter reacted to Afghanistan’s win