AFG vs PAK

Right so, the Pakistani seamers have blown away Afghanistan in the first ODI here and they couldn't even survive 20 overs. There will be a lot of soul searching in that Afghan camp as they look to address the problems with their batting and find a way to combat the challenge that will be posed by the Pakistan seamers in the days to come. The injury to Omarzai will also worry them as he has been a vital cog in the wheel for them for a while now. It will be a really quick turnaround for the next game and both the sides will be looking to come up and put their best foot forward. For now though, the Momentum lies with Pakistan as they're 1-0 up in the series. 

Babar Azam, Pakistan Captain- Thanks to the Almighty!! Our batting wasn't that good but Imam and Iftikhar rescued us from a tough situation. I just told my players that we have a decent total on the board and we have to take early wickets. Shaheen and Naseem were outstanding in the powerplay and Rauf was an absolute game changer. I don't really take a lot of pressure from my failures and I try to learn from every match. The way we played was a really positive sign for us. 

Hashmatullah Shahidi [Afghanistan captain]: It was chaseable, we had a good chance but all credit to Pakistan bowlers. To be honest, our batting at the start shot selection was wrong and we allowed the bowlers to bowl in the right areas and we succumbed to the pressure. I'm happy with the bowlers so looking forward to the next game. It's simple, but you have to be smart in the shot selection, relieve the pressure at the start and we didn't do well in that part.

Haris Rauf is the Player of the Match! Here's what he has to say: Feeling very well, used the conditions on offer and it worked wonders for me. It's a low scoring game, as a bowling unit, we had talked about what can be done to turn things around. When I started bowling, wicket demanded hard lengths, I tried to hit the deck hard. Shaheen started off well, I realized that when Shaheen started hitting the hard length, I had to do the same. When I run in, the focus is not on the speed but just to try and hit the right length and hard length.

Afghanistan 59/9 in 19.2 overs
Rahmanullah Gurbaz 18(47) | Haris Rauf 5/18
Azmatullah Omarzai 16(12)   | Shaheen Afridi 2/9

19.2 OVERS!!!! That's all it has taken the Pakistani bowlers to knock over Afghanistan in the first ODI. They were looking down and out at the halfway stage with just 201 runs on the board and the talk was whether their bowlers could get the job done for them and boy did they respond. They've knocked over the Afghans for their second lowest total ever and it's not the way that the Afghans would have wanted things to go here. 

They lost their openers early on as Zadran and Rahmat Shah fell off consecutive deliveries by Afridi. The procession continued from there onwards as the seamers wrecked havoc. They were peppered with the short ball earlier on and then the middle order were done with some really good deliveries. Gurbaz tried to stick around for a while and stage a fight back but he too fell for 18 and once he had been dismissed , the end  seemed near. 

The lower middle order comprising of Nabi, Rashid and Rahman surrendered a bit too quickly and the raw pace of the Paklstan seamers proved to be too much for them. Azmatullah Omarzai played a few shots and got them past 50 but he ended up injuring himself in the process and was gone retired hurt. 

For Pakistan the show was begun early on by Shaheen Shah Afridi who took two wickets in one over. Naseem Shah followed up the good work done by him as he took Shahidi with a short one as well. However it was their Talisman Haris Rauf who was the star of the show for them. The tall quick bowler rattled the batters with his sheer pace and seam movement. He ran through the middle and lower order very quickly as there was hardly any resistance and picked up a FIFER in the process. The spinners didn't really have much to do and Shadab picked up a wicket of his only over that he bowled. 

19.2 Haris Rauf to Mujeeb Ur Rahman, OUT! ALL OVER! Pakistan have blown away Afghanistan here, who would've thought when they got bowled for just 201 and then bundle out Afghanistan for just 59 as they take an unassailable lead of 1-0! Back of a length into the batter, Mujeeb looks to pull but has skied and Naseem settles under it at mid-on and takes a sitter. Haris Rauf finishes with a fifer, what a spell he's had and he ripped apart the batting order!

Mujeeb Ur Rehman c Naseem Shah b Haris Rauf 4(3b, 1x4, 0x6)

19.1 Haris Rauf to Mujeeb Ur Rahman, FOUR! SHOT! Mujeeb has the license here, he's going for it. Length delivery on the stumps, Mujeeb smashes it straight down the ground and finds the ropes.

A wicket maiden to start things off for Shadab Khan and he got rid of Rahman who was looking to break the shackles. This has been some collapse for Afghanistan and they've folded up really cheaply here. 

Fazalhaq Farooqi, RHB, comes to the crease 

Shadab joins the party now and he  lured the batter with the bait there. It paid off as Rahman got a top edge and Fakhar Zaman did the rest. Just one wicket to win now for Pakistan. 

18.5 Shadab Khan to Abdul Rahman, OUT! MILES UP INTO THE NIGHT SKY AND TAKEN! Pakistan are just one wicket away to wrap things up here. Length delivery on the stumps, Rahman has a big swing across the line but has skied it and Fakhar settles under it at square-leg takes a simple catch.

Abdul Rahman c Fakhar Zaman b Shadab Khan 2(13b, 0x4, 0x6)

18.4 Shadab Khan to Abdul Rahman, length delivery on the stumps, turned back in. Rahman looks to turn it into the on-side, but gets a leading edge into the off-side.

18.3 Shadab Khan to Abdul Rahman, OH! That's a googly from Shadab. Short and spun back in, cramps up the batter. Rahman looks to cut but gets the inside edge instead into the strip.

18.1 Shadab Khan to Abdul Rahman, drops it short, slides into the batter on the off-stump. Rahman presses to defend but gets the inside edge back on to the pad.

Shadab Khan, right arm leg break, comes into the attack. 

Haris Rauf threatened to take a fifer in that over but he couldn't get the prized the scalp in the end. Afghanistan are down to their final two wickets now and the end is near.