miscued, and taken! Rauf lands the final punch, and Pakistan coast to a 39-run win! Slower ball dug into the track just outside off. Fareed continues swinging because, well, why not. Fairly early into this stroke too and he drags it off the bottom part of the bat towards mid wicket, who takes a few paces to his left and finishes the job!
Pakistan vs Afghanistan, 1st Match at Sharjah, UAE Tri-Series, Aug 29 2025 - Ball by Ball Commentary
RESULT
1st Match (N), Sharjah, August 29, 2025, United Arab Emirates T20I Tri-Series
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Full commentary
10:51pm That will be all from us for tonight. We hope you enjoyed our coverage and we will be back again tomorrow, with more action from this tri-series. Until then, from all of us here at ESPNcricinfo, it is goodbye!
Salman Ali Agha, the Pakistan captain is also the Player of the Match: I saw the first seven-eight overs, it was holding (for the spinners when they bowled slow and for the change-ups of pacers). I knew that if I could get in, I could hit sixes against any bowlers, and that is what I did. (On their batting against spin and being tested against spin) I am not as good as I used to be, but we came here ten days early, and we know there is going to be a lot of spin and we are up to that challenge. Bowling was outstanding. Whoever came in, they bowled hard lengths. We knew there were going to be lot of slower balls. They (Rauf and Shaheen) are some of the best fast bowlers in the world. Even Muqeem as well (was impressive). The pick of the bowlers for me was Nawaz. He always bowls difficult overs. It is not easy for a finger-spinner and he is doing so well - I am so happy for him. Scoring above par (today), it was a 150-160 kind of wicket, we scored 180-odd and we knew it would be challenging for them. In team meetings and stuff, we talk about going above-par. We bat very deep. Faheem comes in at 8 and he is a good enough batter to win Pakistan games.
Rashid Khan, Afghanistan captain: (On the sixes he hit towards the end) It was needed at the end. We had it in our mind…that run-rate is something that matters. As long as I can try my best to get close to the target, and luckily we got some runs there. I feel this is a wicket of 190-200. The lesser we restrict them to, it is a plus for us. Anything 170-175, we are happy to chase. We lost so many wickets (in the overs between 11-15) and that did not give us the momentum (towards the end). If we had a couple of good overs between overs 11-16, we could have chased it. That is what T20s is about - you cannot lose momentum and once you do, it is tough (to recover). (How to arrest such collapses) At such times, you cannot play risky shots. You can play your shots but you have to take a bit of time. You can take singles and rotate strike, and that keeps the pressure off you. We had a maiden over with two wickets. Four balls, four singles (instead), the momentum could have been different. Rotating strike is key.
10:30pm A largely comfortable win for Pakistan in the end. That, though, was not the case at the half-way mark, when Afghanistan were very much in the contest. But then, Pakistan produced a magical passage of play, picking up five wickets for four runs, and that knocked the stuffing out of Afghanistan. Rashid tried redeeming something for his side with a few lusty blows but by then, Afghanistan were firmly playing catch-up.
Coming back to Pakistan, there were a few things they did wrong. But there were a lot of things they did right as well. Shaheen was excellent across phases, as was Mohammad Nawaz, with Muqeem also impressive, despite being introduced as only the third spinner tonight. Rauf was expensive but finished with four wickets, and it was arguably his double-wicket maiden that truly turned the tide Pakistan's way.
19.5
W
Haris Rauf to Fareed Ahmad, OUT
Fareed Ahmad c Saim Ayub b Haris Rauf 1 (6b 0x4 0x6 9m) SR: 16.66
19.4
•
Haris Rauf to Fareed Ahmad, no run
slower ball on a full length wide outside off. Fareed is way too early into this stroke and misses
Pakistan making a lot of field changes for a situation that requires the opposition to get 40 off 3...
19.3
•
Haris Rauf to Fareed Ahmad, no run
Rauf keeps going short, tailing this back into the batter on leg stump. Fareed is cramped for room but mows at it anyway, only connecting with a bit of fresh air
19.2
•
Haris Rauf to Fareed Ahmad, no run
another sharp short delivery, climbing through on off stump. Fareed continues swinging like a rusty gate and gets nowhere close to the ball
19.1
•
Haris Rauf to Fareed Ahmad, no run
shortish outside off and this zips off the surface. Fareed swishes hard at it but gets beaten for pace more than anything else
Rauf to bowl the final over of the game. Around the wicket
end of over 192 runs • 1 wicket
AFG: 143/9CRR: 7.52 • RRR: 40.00 • Need 40 runs from 6b
Fareed Ahmad1 (1b)
Fazalhaq Farooqi1 (4b)
Shaheen Shah Afridi 4-0-21-2
Haris Rauf 3-1-31-3
18.6
1
Shaheen Shah Afridi to Fareed Ahmad, 1 run
zinged into the blockhole just outside off. Fareed has a swing at it and chalks it off the toe-end towards deep third
18.5
1
Shaheen Shah Afridi to Fazalhaq Farooqi, 1 run
dropped! Full toss angling into the stumps. Farooqi throws his hands at it and slices it towards extra cover, who runs back but cannot make a one-handed catch over his left shoulder stick. Tough chance
Faisal : "No one can understand why Rashid never bat up the order with so much talent he has he must could be the match winner with bat is well " -- I am surprised no one has yet tried to use him as a pinch-hitter at the top of the order in T20s....
18.4
•
Shaheen Shah Afridi to Fazalhaq Farooqi, no run
third bumper in a row, and Farooqi is down on the deck again. This seems to follow him, largely because of the angle and Farooqi somehow gets out of the way
18.3
•
Shaheen Shah Afridi to Fazalhaq Farooqi, no run
another sharp bumper, this time following the batter outside leg. Farooqi opts to duck under this one
18.2
•
Shaheen Shah Afridi to Fazalhaq Farooqi, no run
dug into the track on middle and leg. Farooqi takes his eyes off the ball but swipes at it anyway. Makes no contact, unsurprisingly
Farooqi is the last man in
18.1
W
Shaheen Shah Afridi to Mujeeb, OUT
stumps shattered, and Shaheen has his second as well! Slanted in on a length just outside off. The ball keeps coming back in with the angle from around the wicket and Mujeeb, looking to smear this over, seems to get an inside edge, with the ball then thudding into the stumps. Mujeeb walks back, and Afghanistan are now nine down!
Mujeeb Ur Rahman b Shaheen Shah Afridi 4 (9b 0x4 0x6 19m) SR: 44.44
Shaheen to bowl the penultimate over. 42 off 12. Mujeeb on strike
Storm: "Why not Haris try to bowl Bouncer" -- Well, he did, and that may have changed the momentum of that over!
end of over 1819 runs • 1 wicket
AFG: 141/8CRR: 7.83 • RRR: 21.00 • Need 42 runs from 12b
Mujeeb Ur Rahman4 (8b)
Haris Rauf 3-1-31-3
Sufiyan Muqeem 4-0-25-2
17.6
W
Haris Rauf to Rashid Khan, OUT
Rauf gets the better of Rashid, and that might be the game! Rashid was always going to go after this, and Rauf does well to take all the pace off and make Rashid fetch it. He has to do so from outside off and the lack of pace means he cannot time it as well as he would have liked. Shanks it straight to deep backward square leg, and Rashid's valiant knock comes to an end, much to Pakistan's relief!
Rashid Khan c Hasan Nawaz b Haris Rauf 39 (16b 1x4 5x6 21m) SR: 243.75
17.5
•
Haris Rauf to Rashid Khan, no run
banged into the track just outside off. Comes in further with the angle and Rashid opts to duck under it
17.4
6
Haris Rauf to Rashid Khan, SIX runs
another ferocious slice, and Rashid has his third six of the over. Now then. Now then! Length ball gift-wrapped with width. Rashid throws the kitchen sink at it and carves it over deep backward point!
17.3
•
Haris Rauf to Rashid Khan, no run
length ball hung up wide outside off. Rashid has a swish at it and misses. He was trying to go over backward point again but failed to make contact. That may have been beyond the tramlines as well, but Rashid had moved across, which made the umpire not signal a wide
17.3
1w
Haris Rauf to Rashid Khan, 1 wide
back of a length delivery way outside off. Rashid lets it go and the umpire has no qualms in calling it a wide
17.2
6
Haris Rauf to Rashid Khan, SIX runs
six more - and this is an incredible shot! Rauf misses the wide yorker and dishes out a half-volley. Rashid peels the outer cover off the ball and scythes it over deep backward point!
17.1
6
Haris Rauf to Rashid Khan, SIX runs
watch that ball sail! Slower ball that lands right in the slot outside off. Rashid moves across, gets down on one knee and clobbers it over deep backward square leg!
61 off 18. Afghanistan well behind in the game, but there will be faint hope, as long as Rashid is out there. Rauf to bowl the 18th and quite possibly the 20th
end of over 1714 runs
AFG: 122/7CRR: 7.17 • RRR: 20.33 • Need 61 runs from 18b
Rashid Khan21 (10b 1x4 2x6)
Mujeeb Ur Rahman4 (8b)
Sufiyan Muqeem 4-0-25-2
Shaheen Shah Afridi 3-0-19-1
16.6
1
Sufiyan Muqeem to Rashid Khan, 1 run
has Mujeeb been run out here?! Back of a length, pitching on off and spinning back in. Rashid dabs it towards backward point and calls for the single. Mujeeb, though, has to scurry. He does not entirely drag his bat in until very late, but he managed to plonk it down just in time, despite a direct hit!
16.5
4
Sufiyan Muqeem to Rashid Khan, FOUR runs
four more! Leg-spinner on a shortish length, designed to follow Rashid outside leg. He still generates room, though, and cracks it past backward point!
Language
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Win Probability
PAKÂ 100%
PAKAFG100%50%100%
Over 20 • AFG 143/10
Fareed Ahmad c Saim Ayub b Haris Rauf 1 (6b 0x4 0x6 9m) SR: 16.66
Pakistan won by 39 runsW
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