OUT! After being hit for a 4, Shaheen Afridi gets his revenge as he sends Mohammad Shazad packing on 8. Clears the front leg and looks to clear Babar Azam at mid-on but doesn’t time it well enough. 

AFG are 13/2 after 2.4 overs.

Asghar Afghan is the new man in

FOUR! THE STADIUM ERUPTS! Full and wide from Shaheen, Shahzad frees his arms and lofts the ball through extra-cover for 4. 

THIS IS SO EXCITING! Expect the whole match to be played on the same frequency

Despite Zazai, Babar has decided to throw the ball to Imad Wasim. 

OUT! AND IT’S WORKED! BRILLIANT CAPTAINCY AND GREAT CATCH! ZAZAI IS GONE FOR A DUCK. Coming to the dismissal, Wasim angles the ball away from Zazai from around the wicket. Tempted by the fullish delivery, Zazai goes for a wild sweep. But the ball flies off the top edge and is caught very well by a backpedaling Haris Rauf at short third man,

AFG are 7/1 after 1.3 overs.

19-year-old Gurbaz walks out to bat at no.3

WIDE! He starts off with a wide down the leg side to left-hander Zazai.

1 leg-bye. Zazai gets on the other side of the pitch

OOOOH NERVES? Shahzad knows Shaheen loves zipping the ball back into the right-handers so he walks down the pitch but misses it outside off.

1 run- he’s off the mark with a bunt to third man.

NO SWING YET

1 LB- A crunching yorker to Zazai, there’s an appeal for LBW. Umpire gives it not out. The ball pitches outside leg.

HOW’S THAT? NOT-OUT! A fast, low full-toss to Zazai and it thumps into his pads. Babar and PAK review it. But it looks like missing leg. 

Afghanistan openers Mohammad Shahzad and Hazratullah Zazai are out.

Shaheen Afridi to open the Pakistan’s attack.

National anthems time. Players have lined up

All done, let’s play

The prospect of an in-form Shaheen Shah Afridi against big-hitters Mohammad Shahzad and Hazratullah Zazai is so exciting! This is the kind of start we love to see in T20Is, right?

vs New Zealand: Won by 5 wickets

vs India: Won by 10 wickets

vs WI- Abandoned

vs WI- Abandoned

CRICKET FANS. YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS THIS CLIP! Thank me later (smiles)

vs Scotland: Win by 130 runs

vs Zimbabwe: Won by 47 runs

vs Zimbabwe: Won by 45 runs

vs Zimbabwe:  Won by 48 runs

Well, well, well! This is the first time that a side has decided to bat first in Dubai. Usually, the toss has determined the winner in this ground as teams have opted to field first. The ball tends up come off the surface slower and with dew falling in the latter half, batters find it easier to play their strokes

“We will bat first. It looks dry on the top, could be good for batting first, look to put a decent total on the board and then defend it. We are playing the same team.”

“The mood in the camp is good, we’re in great spirits. It’s a team game and I’m lucky to have a good set-up, can’t write off any team, they have good spinners. We’re also playing an unchanged team.”

Afghanistan: Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Shahzad(w), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi(c), Asghar Afghan, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Karim Janat, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman

Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan(w), Babar Azam(c), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi

Afghanistan win the toss and have elected to bat first in Dubai. A big surprise there

27 runs in 12 balls. 1 four and 3 sixes. Asif Ali turned up at the party with fireworks and ended up finishing the job. He did receive a knock on the helmet while batting and then showed slow developments of concussion, but he stayed put till the end. In Dubai, he will look to go even bigger.

With the bat: 11 runs, including a first-ball 6 | With the ball: 1/16 in 2 overs.

Mohammad Hafeez had a decent outing. PAK will continue to bank on him

The wicketkeeper-batsman walked in at no.3 and scored 46 against Scotland. He took a while to get going but once he found his feet, the Sharjah boundaries seemed even smaller. He smashed four sixes and one four during his 37-ball stay.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman played a massive role in helping Afghanistan to a 130-run win against Scotland in their previous game. He bagged 5/20 in 4 overs.

Haris Rauf was the ‘Player of the Match’ in their previous game’. After impressing heavily against India, with an economical spell, he rattled the Kiwis with a four-wicket haul. Moreover, he bowled a toe-crushing yorker to Martin Guptill, who could not take the field after being bowled by Rauf. Once again, he will be the danger man.

Left-hander Hazratullah Zazai is one of the hardest hitters of the cricket ball in the side and in Asia. Keeping that in mind and his prowess against the slower bowlers, Babar Azam could look to save Imad Wasim for a little later. So far, Wasim has shared the new ball with Shaheen Afridi. But of the six overs in the powerplay, he’s only bowled 2 balls to a left-hander.

Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (c), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi

Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi (c), Asghar Afghan, Karim Janat, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman

PAKISTAN: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan (vc), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shoaib Malik

Reserves: Khushdil Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir

AFGHANISTAN: Mohammad Nabi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Hazratullah Zazai, Usman Ghani, Mohammad Shahzad, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan, Gulbadin Naib, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Hamid Hassan, Farid Ahmed Malik, Naveen ul Haq

Reserves: Sharafuddin Ashraf, Samiullah Shinwari, Dawlat Zadran, Fazal Haq Farooqi

30 minutes to go for the all-important toss. Which captain will the coin favour?

Mohammad Shahzad Afghanistan’s leading run getter in T20Is, is 42 runs away from coring 2000 T20I runs. He provided a quickfire start to Afghan batting innings by smashing 22 runs of 15 balls at a strike rate of 146.66. At Dubai as well, he has scored 382 runs in 8 innings which has 5 fifties in them. But if we look at Shahzad’s T20I career approximately 90 % of his T20I runs have come against Associate nations including Ireland in early part of his career. Against teams like Pakistan, India, West Indies, Sri Lanka, South Africa, England, and Bangladesh he hasn’t found his foot against these teams in 13 innings he has scored 199 runs at a Strike rate of 117.05

1. Mohammad Shahzad: 1101 runs

2. Mohammad Nabi: 477 runs

3. Asghar Afghan: 399 runs

Najibullah Zadran came at #4 against Scotland and smashed a fifty of just 30 balls. Zadran has scored 143 runs in 4 innings which includes consecutives fifties. He is the only batsman for Afghanistan to score multiple fifties in this year. Zadran has scored 388 runs in U.A.E. in 16 innings at a strike rate of 150.38. Only three batsmen have a strike rate of 150 plus with 300 runs scored in U.A.E. Furthermore, he has scored 172 runs in 8 innings in ICC T20 World cup at a strike rate of 156.36. His strike rate of 156.36 is the best among all the Afghanistan batsman with minimum 100 runs scored in T20 World Cup.

1. Mohammad Hafeez: 552 runs

2. Shoaib Malik: 475 runs

3. Babar Azam: 469 runs

1.Shahid Afridi- 97 wickets

2. Saeed Ajmal- 88 wickets

3. Umar Gul– 87 wickets

1. Mohammad Nabi: 103 wickets

2. Rashid Khan: 103 wickets

3. Dawlat Zadran: 60 wickets

1. Mohammad Hafeez: 2443 runs

2. Shoaib Malik: 2387 runs

3. Babar Azam: 2832 runs

1. Mohammad Shahzad: 2515 runs
2. Mohammad Nabi: 1852 runs
3. Asghar Afghan: 1539 runs

Mohammad Rizwan has consistently performed well for his team in this year, in 16 innings he has scored 864 runs which is the most T20I runs scored by a batsman in any calendar year. He has smashed 8 fifties and a T20I ton with 9 fifty-plus scores he has most fifty-plus scores by a batsman in any calendar year. Out of the 16 innings 13 times Rizwan has scored 30 plus runs in an innings. Rizwan needs 8 more runs to complete 1000 T20I runs as an opener. He would be the 3rd opener for Pakistan to score 1000 T20I runs, if he gets these 8 runs in next match, he would be the Fastest PAK opener to score 1000 T20I runs. He is the leading run-getter for PAK in this T20 World cup so far.

Shaheen Shah Afridi has been impressive in the two matches in this T20 World Cup, he has provided the start which Pakistan need with the ball upfront. In the first game vs India he got a wicket in the very first over by dismissing Rohit Sharma whereas in the 2nd game against New Zealand he started the proceeding with a maiden over, In fact, Shaheen has bowled two maiden overs in T20Is this year. Afridi attacks the stumps with the new ball and traps the batsman in front of the stumps either in the form of LBW or Bowled. Out of the four wickets, two of them are Bowled and LBW. At Dubai in three matches, he has picked 8 wickets, which has two three wickets hauls in them.

[PAK | AFG]

Most Prolific Batsmen: Mohammad Hafeez – 42 Runs | Najibullah Zadran – 38 Runs

Highest scores: 42* By Mohammad Hafeez On Dec 08, 2013 | 38 By Najibullah Zadran On Dec 08, 2013

Pakistan’s leading run getter in T20Is hasn’t found form in this year, he has scored 117 runs in 10 innings in 2021 with only one score of 30 plus runs in it. At Dubai as well he has scored 353 runs in 17 innings, 8 times he has been dismissed in single digits scores here at Dubai. His only fifty came at this venue in the last match he played against New Zealand in 2018. In ICC T20 World Cup Hafeez has scored 437 runs in 23 innings at a SR of 106.32 which is just above run a ball. Pakistan and Afghanistan have only played each other once in T20Is back in 2013 and Hafeez played a match winning knock of 42* off 37 balls. Hafeez can be handy with the ball as well he has picked 61 wickets in 77 innings and has been economical, he bowls at an economy rate of 6.55. But due to his dicey recent form makes him a risky pick but an experienced campaigner like Hafeez can deliver anytime when his team needs him.

Caught by WK- 2 wickets– Percentage of wickets 2.02

Caught by fielder- 31 wickets- Percentage of wickets 31.31

Bowled- 33 wickets- Percentage of wickets 33.33

LBW- 22 wickets– Percentage of wickets 22.22

Stumped – 11 wickets- Percentage of wickets 11.11

Protect your pads, Afghanistan batters.

Rashid Khan (AFG) 52 matches| 22 wickets

Wanindu Hasaranga (SL) 29 matches | 19 wickets

Ajantha Mendis (SL) 39 matches | 16 wickets

Rashid Khan is one wicket away from completing 100 T20I wickets, he will the 4th bowler to reach this landmark. He will the quickest to achieve this feast, Rashid will be playing his 53rd T20I match, others to achieve this mark are: Lasith Malinga- 76 and Shakib and Southee did it- 84 matches. Rashid picked 4-for in his last match. He took 3 wickets in the form of Leg before wickets and one in bowled. Now Rashid has 22 wickets in the form of LBW which is the most wickets by a bowler in T20Is

1. Afghanistan –183/5 in  19.4 overs. Target: 180 against UAE

2. Pakistan – 154/5 in 19.4 overs. Target 154 against New Zealand

3. Ireland- 156/5 in 18.5 overs. Target 153 against Afghanistan

Best Bowling Figures:

5/14 By Imad Wasim (Pakistan) Against West Indies In 2016.

Highest Partnership:

152 By Mohammad Rizwan And Babar Azam (Pakistan) For

1st Wicket Against India In 2021.

Win Rate Batting First:

50% (5 Won; 5 Lost)

Highest Team Total:

211/3 By Sri Lanka Against Pakistan In 2013.

Lowest Team Total:

55/10 By West Indies Against England In 2021.

Highest Individual Score:

84 By Kusal Perera (Sri Lanka) Against Pakistan In 2013.

Afghanistan- 137/8 (20)

Pakistan– 138/4 (19.5)

The two Asian sides have only played only one T20I against each other – in 2013. Pakistan won the match by 6 wickets

Pakistan – 1ST 2 matches | 2 wins | 0 losses | 4 points 

Afghanistan – 2ND 1 match | 1 win | 0 losses | 2 points

It is a well-known fact that there are political tensions between neighbours and Pakistan and Afghanistan. While, the players try to steer clear of it, the tempers often flate between the fans. 

“The animosity between fans of the two teams erupted during their last exchange in the 2019 ODI World Cup at Headingley when punches were exchanged and things thrown. There was a pitch invasion too after the match before police intervened to calm things down.” (Full article)

Hello and Welcome to the live coverage of the Super 12 game between Afghanistan and Pakistan being played at the Dubai International Stadium. Both sides, led by Mohammad Nabi and Babar Azam, respectively, are unbeaten. Hence, this game is going to be all the more exciting. Expect both sets of players to go out with all guns blazing. Can Nabi and Co. stop the Babar and men’s winning momentum with a suprise win or will the “Men in Green” continue to their charge. Irrespective of the result, you are assured of some scintillating cricket. So, sit back and enjoy the action.