T20 World Cup: Pakistan Defeat Afghanistan By 5 Wickets, Move Closer To Semifinals

T20 World Cup, AFG vs PAK: Having defeated Afghanistan on Friday, Pakistan have scored a hat-trick of wins in the Super 12 stage and are edging closer to a spot in the semifinals.

Skipper Babar Azam hit a composed 51 while Asif Ali hit four sixes in the penultimate over as Pakistan completed a hat-trick of victories in the T20 World Cup with a five-wicket win over Afghanistan in a Super 12 Group 2 match, on Friday. Skipper Mohammad Nabi and Gulbadin Naib's unbeaten knocks in a splendid rearguard action had steered Afghanistan to a competitive 147 for six after they were gasping at 76 for six. Pakistan overhauled the target in 19 overs, a victory which consolidated their top spot in the points table and enhanced their semifinal chances with minnows Scotland and Namibia up next for them.

His side needing 24 runs from the last two overs, Asif Ali (25 off 7 balls) finished the job in 19th over, hitting four sixes off Karim Jannat.

Pakistan lost Mohammad Rizwan (8) to Mujeeb Ur Rahman early in their chase but Azam and Fakhar Zaman (30) kept the innings under control with their 63-run stand. Mujeeb was exceptional upfront for Afghanistan as he conceded only 14 runs in his four-over spell but Pakistan batters scored runs off other bowlers.

World's top leg-spinner Rashid Khan carried Afghanistan's hopes but by the time he came to bowl Pakistan had put 72 runs on board in 10 overs. His magic was on work though as he got rid of Mohammad Hafeez (10) to complete a century of wickets in T20 Internationals.

He gave away only 26 runs in his four overs with most of the Pakistan batters playing him with caution. Shoaib Malik (19) though launched Rashid for a massive six in his last over in which Azam was dropped by Naveen ul haq. However, the Pakistan skipper was bowled off a googly in the last ball.