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.
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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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