Pakistan skipper, Babar Azam said he was confident that Asif Ali can finish tough games for the team. The latter smashed four sixes in the 19th over to help his team seal a five-wicket win against Afghanistan in T20 World Cup 2021 in Dubai on Friday. Pakistan needed 24 in the last two overs but Asif Ali was in a hurry and finished the game in the penultimate over itself.
Praising Asif Ali after the match, Babar Azam said, “He (Asif Ali) is known for this. So I was very confident he’d get us out of any trouble we find ourselves in. I was confident pre-tournament itself that he would deliver when needed.”
Here is the video of Asif Ali finishing the game:
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Asked to bowl first, Pakistan reduced Afghanistan to 64/5 in 9.1 overs but Gulbadin Naib (35 not out) and skipper Mohammad Nabi (35 not out) added 71 runs for the 6th wicket and took Afghanistan to a competitive 147/6.
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Talking about the same, Babar Azam said, “We started well with the bowl, got a lot of wickets as we planned. Maybe gave away 10-15 runs too many at the end. With the bat, we couldn’t capitalize the powerplay as we wanted to. In the end, with Malik and Asif Ali, we knew they could do the job.”
He further added, “We planned our strategies well with the ball, and also ensured that he kept the uneven boundary dimensions in mind while bowling. Spinners were getting some grip from the track, Afghanistan have quality bowlers too and I was trying to take it as deep as possible. Unfortunately, I couldn’t finish things off, but credit to Asif Ali.”
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Afghanistan skipper Mohammad Nabi looked to count the positives from the game as they managed to take the game deep despite a below-par total.
Mohammad Nabi said, “We didn’t start well but the total on the board was a decent one for this pitch. We discussed that 150 would be a good score and so we dug deep. And then got some runs in the last few overs. I think three spinners are enough. Rashid bowled at the right time and we tried to take the game deep. Asif Ali played really well in the 19th over. A lot of positives from today’s game. We fought really well till the end.”
