Asia Cup 2022: Super Four, Match 4 – 10 best memes from PAK vs AFG game

The 2022 Asia Cup served a cliffhanger of cliffhangers as Pakistan and Afghanistan engaged in a rip-roaring contest at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Pakistan booked their ticket for the finals after snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, dumping Afghanistan and India out of the continental tournament. Pakistan found an unlikely hero in Naseem Shah, who smashed two consecutive sixes to seal their spot in the final.

Pakistan, in pursuit of a non-threatening total, made a timid start to the chase, losing the skipper Babar Azam for a golden duck as his atrocious run with the bat in the Asia Cup continued. Fakhar Zaman was then sent packing after a brilliant piece of fielding saw him short at the crease.

The Men in Green never looked out of the chase, but the wicket of the immovable force in the tournament so far, Mohammad Rizwan (20 off 26 deliveries) renewed the Afghani hopes. Shadab Khan's promotion up the order turned out to be a masterclass as he played a crucial knock of 36 off 26 deliveries, to keep the Pakistanis in the chase.

And just when it looked like the game was slipping from Afghanistan, Fazalhaq Farooqi dented the Pakistani hopes with a superb two-wicket 18th over. Pakistan's hopes rested with the big-hitting Asif Ali, who had played a crucial cameo in the previous encounter. But the hard-hitting batter's dismissal in the penultimate over put Nabi's side in the driver's seat.

Babar Azam called it right at the toss for a second successive time, and to no one's surprise, opted to bowl first. The Afghanistan openers showed their intent in the do-or-die game scoring 27 off the first three overs against the Pakistani pacers. The attacking pair were going great guns before Haris Rauf's introduction in the fourth over produced the pivotal wicket of Rahmanullah Gurbaz (17 off 11).

The wicket woke the Pakistani bowlers into action as Mohammad Hasnain outfoxed the other opener Hazratullah Zazai (21 off 17), with a deceptive slower delivery. The introduction of spin further compounded the misery of the Afghan batters as the run flow was stifled by the skillful bowling duo of Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan.

Ibrahim Zadran (35 off 37) dropped the anchor but was never able to switch to the fourth gear as Afghanistan meandered towards a below-par score in the crunch game. Mohammad Nabi, like his counterpart, was dismissed for a golden duck, a rare sight in T20Is, which saw both skippers dismissed for golden ducks. The innings would have made for grim reading if not for a couple of lusty blows from Rashid Khan, which took the total to a lowly yet competitive 129 runs on the board.

The netizens were gobsmacked witnessing arguably the game of the tournament so far and came up with some hilarious memes.