Asif Ali lived up to expectations when he hit four massive sixes in the penultimate over of the game to take Pakistan past the finishing line in style against Afghanistan in a Super 12 game in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021 at the Dubai International Stadium on Friday. Pakistan were in a spot of bother, having lost skipper Babar Azam and the experienced Shoaib Malik in quick succession. However, Asif Ali continued from where he left off in the game against New Zealand and scored the required 24 runs in the 19th over itself, bowled by pacer Karim Janat.

Asif preferred to go in the ‘V’ initially and then went a bit squarer to hit his four sixes towards long-off, mid-wicket, straight over the bowler’s head and then over the cover region respectively.

The International Cricket Council shared the video of Asif’s sixes with a caption that said:

“Pakistan: Need 24 to win. Asif Ali: 6, 6, 6, 6.”

Skipper Babar Azam scored a well-crafted half-century in 45 balls to anchor the Pakistan innings.

The Afghanistan spinners put a lid on the scoring rate in the middle-overs with Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb ur Rahman bossing the proceedings.

However, Babar, Fakhar Zaman and Shoaib contributed through crucial cameos which formed the backbone of the Pakistan’s run-chase of 148 runs.

Earlier, captain Nabi had opted to bat after winning the toss as Afghanistan scored 147/6 in 20 overs.

Promoted

Asif’s sixes blitz helped Pakistan register another victory as they continue to top the group with six points in three games.

The win also took Pakistan a step closer to the semi-finals, with only Scotland and Namibia left to play for them.

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