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1<\/span>\/13<\/p>\nPakistan beat Afghanistan to knock out India and reach Asia Cup final<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n
Show Captions<\/p>\n
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<p>Naseem Shah hit two last-over sixes as Pakistan pulled off a thrilling one-wicket win over Afghanistan. AP<\/p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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<p>Pakistan’s victory set up an Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka, knocking out rivals India in the process.<\/p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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<p>In a game dominated by bowlers, Haris Rauf led an inspired attack that limited Afghanistan to 129-6.<\/p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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<p>Ibrahim Zadran stood out with a fighting 35 but skipper Mohammad Nabi fell for a first-ball duck.<\/p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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<p>In Pakistan’s reply, Fazalhaq Farooqi trapped skipper Babar Azam lbw for a first-ball duck.<\/p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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<p>Pakistan suffered another blow when Fakhar Zaman was run out to leave the team at 18-2.<\/p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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<p>Rashid Khan trapped Mohammad Rizwan LBW for 20 and the batsman trudged back after an unsuccessful review.<\/p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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<p>Vice-captain Shadab Khan top-scored with 36 before he was dismissed by Rashid.<\/p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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<p>Tempers flared when Fareed Ahmad struck twice in the 19th over, including dismissing Asif Ali who then angrily waved his bat at the bowler.<\/p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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<p>Chasing 130 for victory, Pakistan were 118-9 when No. 10 Naseem muscled two hits over the fence off Farooqi.<\/p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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<p>The Afghans appeared set for victory when Farooqi saw two full tosses at the start of the final over dispatched over long-off by Naseem.<\/p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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<p>Pakistan won with four balls to spare at a venue where Javed Miandad once hit a last-ball six against India in the 1986 Austral-Asia Cup final.<\/p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
“We need to have the belief, we can hit, we keep practicing in the nets and I also changed my bat, it worked.
“When you lose the ninth wicket, no one expects you to win, but I had belief that I can. I practice hitting a lot. This will be a memorable game for me. Everyone’s forgotten I am a bowler.”
Pakistan needed 20 off 10 balls with two wickets in hand when Naseem came in. The no. 10 batter had only faced one ball in T20Is before that. Panic set in when Asif Ali was dismissed on the fifth ball of the penultimate over.
Pakistan needed 11 from the final over but Naseem decided to take it upon himself and finish off the match. <\/p>\n
“Asif was batting when I came in and my job was to give him strike but when he got out, I thought it was all on me.”
Pakistan captain Babar Azam said he was reminded of batting great Javed Miandad<\/a> hitting that famous last ball six off Chetan Sharma to beat India in Sharjah in 1986. Azam wasn’t even born when Miandad’s heroics helped Pakistan clinch the Austral-Asia Cup.
“I was in the dressing room (during last over). But at the back of the mind, I thought it is cricket, and I have seen Naseem bat like this, so I had a little bit of belief. <\/p>\n“This reminded me of Javed Miandad’s six in Sharjah,” he said.
“To be honest, it was quite a tense environment in the dressing room. We couldn’t build partnerships like last few games, but the way Naseem finished it, you could see the mahaul (vibe) after that.”
Pakistan play Sri Lanka in the summit clash on Sunday. <\/div>\n