Ashraf propels Afghanistan to last-gasp win

Afghanistan kept themselves alive in the four-match series against UAE with a last-gasp win in the third ODI at the ICC Academy. Chasing 274, Afghanistan were 169 for 6 when Mirwais Ashraf walked in to bat. The allrounder scored an unbeaten 51-ball 52 to guide his team home with two balls remaining. Needing four runs to win with three balls left, Ashraf finished the match with a six off Krishna Karate.

Afghanistan's chase began at a blistering pace, with Javed Ahmadi tonking a 45-ball 67 and dominating a first-wicket stand of 60 off just 48 balls with Nawroz Mangal. But Ahmadi's run-out dismissal in the 13th over began a wobble that saw Afghanistan lose five wickets for 78 runs. Ashraf's entry plugged the leak, and Afghanistan's chase got back on track with his stands of 50 with Shafiqullah for the seventh wicket and 39 with Dawlat Zadran for the eighth.

Sent in to bat, UAE's top five all got among the runs as they piled on a total of 273 for 5. Opener Amjad Ali made 47, while Mohammad Shahzad and captain Khurram Khan scored brisk half-centuries at over a run a ball. Khurram continued his stunning run in the series - he made 53 and 132* in the first two ODIs - with an unbeaten 80-ball 85.