Babar Azam (60) and Mohammad Rizwan's (67) crucial partnership helped Pakistan post a fighting total despite a suffering a collapse in the middle order and helped them post 268/8 on board.
New Delhi: Babar Azam-led Pakistan is taking on Hashmatullah Shahidi’s Afghanistan in the third and final ODI of the series at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The Men in Green are eyeing a clean sweep victory that will make them the number 1 ODI team ahead of the Asia Cup and ODI World Cup 2023.
Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first but the decision didn’t look so good as they lost their openers early on. However, skipper Babar Azam and wicket-keeper batter Mohammad Rizwan stood up this time and helped their team recover from the early blows.
Afghanistan bowling was extremely precise, especially Gulabadin Naib and Rashid Khan. They didn’t allow the batters to score freely. However, the Babar-Rizwan duo patiently waited and progressed the scoreboard.
Babar Azam hits Rashid Khan for a huge SIX! What a shot, his fav shot for Six #AFGvPAK #BabarAzam #PakvsAfg
— King Babar Azam Army (@kingbabararmy) August 26, 2023
Both of them completed their fifties and guided PAK’s innings. During the 35th over, Rashid Khan bowled a loose delivery and Babar not missing it delivered it out of the park. This was also the first six of Pakistan’s innings. He completed his 28th half-century with a single on the very next ball.
The video of that six is now going viral all across the social space. Fans are extremely happy to see Babar consistently scoring runs ahead of big tournaments like the Asia Cup and the 50-over World Cup. Rashid was able to avenge the six in his next over as he dismissed Babar on the score of 60 runs off 86 balls.
Babar along with Rizwan played crucial knocks and helped Pakistan put a fighting total of 268 runs on the scorboard.
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Gulbadin Naib, Riaz Hassan, Shahidullah Kamal, Mohammad Nabi, Fareed Ahmad Malik, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi
Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Saud Shakeel, Agha Salman, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jr
