AFG vs PAK fight: Asif Ali vs Afghanistan fight with Fareed Ahmad takes ugly turn in Sharjah as Pakistan win a nerve-thriller

Gurpreet Singh | 07/09/2022
AFG vs PAK fight: Asif Ali vs Afghanistan fight with Fareed Ahmad takes ugly turn in Sharjah as Pakistan win a nerve-thriller

AFG vs PAK fight: Asif Ali and Fareed Ahmad involve themselves in an ugly on-field spat, as Pakistan reach the finale of Asia Cup 2022.

Yet another Asia Cup 2022 match. Yet another edge-of-the-seat humdinger. Pakistan have defeated Afghanistan by 1 wicket at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, in what was a low-scoring thriller, to go through to the grand finale of the continental championship, scheduled to be played on September 11.

A perfect see-saw battle with Afghanistan nearly turning the tide in their favour during the final four Overs, ended with a couple of scintillating Sixes of Naseem Shah’s bat, with Pakistan needing 11 runs off the final six deliveries.

Defending a modest target of 130 runs, and despite the wicket being challenging to bat on, the Afghan left-arm pacers – Fareed Ahmad Malik (4-0-31-3) and Fazalhaq Farooqi (3.2-0-31-3) were the show stealers with the ball, in a side which is known for its experienced spin bowling trio.

With 21 runs required off 12 deliveries, it was Fareed Malik picking the wickets of Haris Rauf (0 off 1) and most importantly the danger man Asif Ali (16 off 8) after conceding a Six in the 19th Over, that turned the bout in Afghanistan’s ‘D’, until Naseem decided to swing his axe.

AFG vs PAK fight

The peak moment of the chase arrived during the aforementioned Over, after a pumped up Malik, in all the adrenaline rush, perhaps had a word or two after dismissing Asif, which soon snowballed into a heated argument between the two, with Asif even threatening to hit the left-arm pacer with his bat before heading towards the dressing room.

While both of them continued with their verbal ding-dong, it were the rest of the players from both the sides who had to intervene and pacify the two.

Post winning the match, a pumped up Naseem Shah, went for a victory 100 meters dash around the field, while also getting rid of his helmet, gloves, and the bat in the process, as the rest of his team mates joined him as well from the dressing room.

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Post Edited By: Gurpreet Singh
Afghanistan Asia Cup 2022 Asif Ali Fareed Ahmad Pakistan

About the author

Gurpreet Singh

Gurpreet Singh is a Cricket writer at The Sportsrush. His platonic relationship with sports had always been there since childhood, but Cricket managed to strike a special, intimate nerve of his heart. Although his initial dream of playing the sport at the highest level couldn't come to fruition, Gurpreet did represent the state of Jharkhand at the under-14 level. However, almost like taking a pledge to never let the undying passion for Cricket fade away even a tad, he made sure to continue the love relationship by assigning the field of journalism as an indirect Cupid. He thus, first finished his bachelor's in journalism and then pursued the PG Diploma course in English journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC). Soon after and since 2019, he has been working at The Sportsrush. Apart from sports, he takes keen interest in politics, and in understanding women and gender-related issues.

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