Five wickets for Rauf! What a bowling display this has been from the bowler. Length ball around off, Mujeeb goes big again, but doesn't time it well and ends up giving an easy catch to Naseem to mid-on. Rauf bows to the ground and prays to God after taking the five-for.
Pakistan vs Afghanistan, 1st ODI at Hambantota, AFG v PAK, Aug 22 2023 - Ball by Ball Commentary
That's it from us today. Hope you all enjoyed our coverage. I am Srinidhi Ramanujam, signing off on behalf of S Sudarshanan, K Vairavan and Ranjith P. Stay hydrated and take care!
Rauf, the player of the match: "As a bowling unit, I am happy for the team. When I started the bowling, I just wanted to hit the hard lengths. Naseem and Shaheen bowled really well. I don't know [about my speed]. My focus is not in speed, just want to bowl good lengths."
Shahidi, Afghanistan captain: "It was chaseable, we had a good chance but we couldn't do. I think our shot selection in the beginning was not good enough. Because of that also we lost some wickets. I am happy with our bowling performance. This is the first match. Looking forward to the next few games. [on his team's batting] you have to be smart in shot selection. That's something we want to look at moving forward."
Babar, Pakistan captain: "At the toss, felt the wicket was a bit dry. We lost wickets upfront and then Imam and Iftikhar got us to a decent total. We wanted to put 250 on board but unfortunately couldn't. [In bowling], we just wanted to bowl as many dot balls as possible and hit hard length in the powerplay. Haris' spell was game-changing. [on his duck]. No pressure, I always learn from my mistakes. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, it happens in the game of cricket. We want to stay positive."
8.55pm: A 142-run win for Pakistan after being bowled out for 201. It was Afghanistan's spinners vs Pakistan pacers. Afghanistan were a happier bunch going into the break at halfway stage after Mujeeb, Rashid and Nabi shared eight wickets between them. However, that joy was short-lived as red-hot Haris Rauf rattled the hosts with pace and swing to restrict them for 59 for 9 inside 20 overs. En route, he picked up his maiden five-for in ODIs. Omarzai retired hurt and that meant Pakistan will have a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series. Sampath also tells me this is Afghanistan's second lowest ODI total and Afghanistan's 59 all out is the lowest total by any team in men's ODIs against Pakistan.
Fires in full length on off and middle, smashes it straight down the ground for four. Ooooh, nice!
Length ball outside off, spun away as Farooqi lets it go. A wicket maiden.
There goes the eighth wicket! Bowls it full on middle and off, Rahman wants to go big across the line, but doesn't get the elevation. Fakhar runs in from midwicket and takes the catch. Shadab is elated
Length ball outside off, goes for a cut and doesn't really connect
Legbreak outside off, pushed to short cover
Fuller around off, defended back to bowler
148.8kmph. Pakistan want to review this. Full ball just outside off, Mujeeb swings his bat at it and misses. Did he nick it? There is a big gap between bat and ball. Good decision by the umpire
SaadSami: "Who will be man of the match today? Haris has got my vote"
Short ball outside off, goes back and punches it to deep third. 144.5kmph
Bangs in a short delivery around off, goes for a pull towards deep backward square leg, falls short of the fielder
Falls short of second slip! Full ball moving away from the batter after pitching outside off, he goes for a drive and gets an edge towards second slip
Length ball on the stumps, clipped to deep backward square leg
Full around off, pushed to short covers
Looks like Omarzai is struggling with back strain. He walks off the field.
saqib kundi : "Amazing display of cricket۔ one half is dominated by world class spin and the other half belongs to wolrd class Fast bowling۔ it's spin vs Fast show ۔ "
Tossed up around off, hits straight over bowler's head for a clean four
Full outside off, hit towards cover
Fullish delivery on middle and leg, prods forward and defends
Tossed up on off, driven to long-off for a single
Fuller on legstump, defended softly
Yorker length on middle stump, plays it inside-out
Over 20 • AFG 59/9