Twitter Reactions: Mohammad Nabi dazzles all-round to defy Babar Azam's century
The Afghanistan players were ecstatic after this amazing victory.
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The official warm-up games for the World Cup 2019 kicked off with the match between Pakistan and Afghanistan. In this clash of the Asian teams, Pakistan was expected to assert dominance after the recent upset against England. However, Sarfaraz Ahmed and his men struggled yet again in this game. The all-round heroics from Mohammad Nabi, supported by a good knock from Hashmatullah Shahidi proved to be a nightmare for the opposition.
Earlier, the Afghanistan team was brilliant with the ball despite being sloppy with the ball. Even though the game went down right till the end, Gulbadin Naib‘s team was always under control. Pakistan’s batting innings was dominated by Babar Azam who scored a good century. Except for the contributions from Shoaib Malik and Imam-ul-Haq, there isn’t much to talk about the batting display.
Babar Azam guides Pakistan to a respectable total
Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat first. But they lost wickets in quick successions after getting to a good start. From 63/1, they were brought down to 100/4. Imam scored 32 runs while Fakhar Zaman got out for just 19. Haris Sohail and Mohammad Hafeez scored 1 and 12 runs respectively. While Afghanistan could have applied pressure by bowling their best bowlers at this stage, they chose not to and Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik made the most of it.
The duo added 103 runs together before Malik perished for 44. Azam, though, played extremely cautious cricket and ensured that he reached the triple figures. However, he failed to accelerate at the death and got out after scoring 112 runs leaving his team in shambles. There wasn’t much left in the lower-order of Pakistan. The Afghanistan bowlers were always on the top and kept pegging in with regular wickets as they bundled the opposition out for 262 in 47.5 overs.
Hashmatullah Shahidi
Afghanistan, despite losing Mohammad Shahzad who retired hurt for 23 runs, got off to a flyer. Hazratullah Zazai took the attack to Shaheen Afridi and hit him for five boundaries in one over. The left-hander got out after scoring 49 runs from 28 balls and it was a turbulent ride for his team ever since he got out. Rahmat Shah took 49 balls to score 32 runs. After scoring 22 runs, Samiullah Shenwari also lost his wicket to Imad Wasim. From 244/4, the team lost its course in the chase and was brought down to 249/7 in quick time.
The equation quickly changed and 14 runs were required off the last two overs. It was Afghanistan who were under pressure at this stage. But Shahidi hit a boundary in the 49th over to bring the equation down to 4 off 6. Rashid Khan and Hashmatullah Shahidi maintained their calm and finished the chase with two balls to spare. The latter remained unbeaten on 74 as Afghanistan won the match by 3 wickets.
Twitterati rose up in joy as Afghanistan defeated Pakistan. The fans were all praise for Mohammad Nabi and Hashmatullah Shahidi for their efforts. At the same time, they also felt bad for Babar Azam and Wahab Riaz who tried their level best to help their team win the game.
Here is how Twitterati reacted to Afghanistan’s win over Pakistan:
It is more than a world cup for Afghanistan 🇦🇫 #AfgvPak #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/HdaV4onlYI
— Feroz Mahbobi (@ferozmahbobi) May 24, 2019
Pakistan starts their World Cup campaign with a loss against Afghanistan in warm up match. 😂
Well Played Afghans!!! That’s a big alert for other eights..#AFGvPAK #CricketWorldCup2019 #Afghanistan @ACBofficials @TheRealPCB— Shaon Chikku (@ShaonChikku) May 24, 2019
This track was a 300 plus deck..Afghanistan would have struggled had they had to defend even 10 more runs.
— AmerCric (@Amermalik12) May 24, 2019
#Kabul citizens celebrating #Afghanistan cricket win against #Pakistan with gunfire. Firing can heard from every corner of Kabul.
— Syed Anwar (@Sayed_Anwer) May 24, 2019
Afghanistan won by 3 wickets. Congratulations Afg ! Hard luck green shirts. Pakistan need to regroup , give their best & dust off the defeats. #PAKvAfg
— Ihtisham ul Haq (@iihtishamm) May 24, 2019
Pakistan: We are favourite for this World Cup
Afghanistan: Hold my beer 🍺— M K Ramesh (@mkrameshlive) May 24, 2019
Congrats Afghanistan!
Today's stunning win proved that Afghanistan is an undeniable power in Cricket World. The sparkling young generation of this arena will take us to the new heights of succes and keep the National Flag flying.
Cricket is a SUCCESS story of the Nation! pic.twitter.com/Q6MxgaAfJX— Atif Mashal (@MashalAtif) May 24, 2019
Hashmatullah Shahidi has been terrific against Pakistan lately. Scored 97 not out in the Asia Cup last year and 74 not out today. 171 runs without being dismissed.
Great win for Afghanistan. Will give them massive confidence going in the tournament proper. #AFGvPAK #CWC19
— Hanif ullah (@HanifullahJan) May 24, 2019
This is the worst to see Pakistan lost a match against afghanistan after this performance where pakistan team standing https://t.co/7noFJ5vMNj cup lot to worry about our bowling in.This match all bowlers tried except Hasan but we cannot stop afghan batsmans #PAKvAFG pic.twitter.com/sB45uXhBdu
— Hasan mahmood (@Hasanma44330330) May 24, 2019
To my imagination, this defeat to Afghanistan stands at par to our earlier World Cup ‘gift’ of losing to Bangladesh in ‘99. #ICCWorldCup2019
— Aly (@alynaseer) May 24, 2019
We might see Afghanistan pulling off another upset and that against England.
England have a terrible bowling attack so it will be easy to score for Afghanistan batsmen. Also, Apart from Buttler, No english batsmen can survive against Rashid, Mujeeb and Nabi.
— Sharique 🏏 (@ShariqueAghaz) May 24, 2019
Afghanistan’s record over last four years has been better than Pakistan in International cricket. They are no joke.
— TeamIK (@ManUtdPTI) May 24, 2019
Pakistan is playing with only one batsman(Babar),very dismal performance against Afghanistan. Hafeez & Malik needs some serious efforts, otherwise our WC19 journey ends here.
— Alam Soomro (@makjasm) May 24, 2019
If India isn't involved in the world cup match, I'll support Afghanistan for sure to win their games.#PAKvAFG
— Proud Hindu (@Abhinavkapri) May 24, 2019
Afghanistan cricket teams tames Pakistan team. Congratulations Afghanistan players. You guys played well & deserved this extraordinary victory.This victory will bring some hope in hearts of Afghans who have suffered for decades. Now its time for Afghans to dominate sports fields.
— Rauf Klasra (@KlasraRauf) May 24, 2019
In the crazy world of Pakistan cricket:
10 ODI losses in a row
19 losses out of 23 matches in all formats
Warm-up loss to Afghanistan
Lack of match-practice for several players
Fitness concerns over some playersBut they could still go on and win the World Cup#CWC19
— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) May 24, 2019
Ghabraana nahi hai.
It was just a warm up match!!!— Faizan Lakhani (@faizanlakhani) May 24, 2019
If you want to beat Pakistan in a World Cup match, all you have to do is wear blue jersey. 😂😂#PAKvAFG
— Krishna (@Atheist_Krishna) May 24, 2019
Well done @ACBofficials , what a start for the Blue Tigers in this World Cup!!!
Early prediction: If the batsmen get into their grooves quickly, this team has the bowling to make the big boys sweat.#CWC19 #AFGvPAK
— Sandipan Banerjee (@im_sandipan) May 24, 2019
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