Can India reach Asia Cup final 2o22: The qualification criteria wasn’t in India’s hands after two consecutive losses.
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During the 10th match of the ongoing 15th edition of Asia Cup between Pakistan and Afghanistan in Sharjah, Pakistan beat Afghanistan by 1 wicket in a nail-biting contest.
Maintaining a winning streak against Afghanistan wasn’t the most simplest of tasks for Pakistan as Afghanistan almost secured their first-ever victory against Pakistan. A proper last-over thriller had required Pakistan to score 11 runs off six balls with a solitary wicket in hand.
Batting only for the second time in this format, Pakistan fast bowler Naseem Shah (14*) held his nerve with the bat in hand as his back-to-back sixes off Afghanistan fast bowler Fazalhaq Farooqi powered his team to a hard-fought victory.
Naseem Shah👏🏻👏🏻💪💪💪💥💥💥.
— Ian Raphael Bishop (@irbishi) September 7, 2022
While Fareed Ahmed and Farooqi picked three wickets, Rashid Khan dismissed a couple of batters to keep the opposition in check while defending a paltry 130-run target. The fact that Afghanistan managed to put up a strong fight and not let Pakistan run away with a low-scoring chase is in itself a victory for them.
Last of the four Asia Cup 2022 matches at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, it wasn’t just a contest to watch for cricketing reasons but was also an archetype box-office clash which witnessed emotions getting the batter of players from both the teams. The situation had really heated up after Pakistan batter Asif Ali (16) was dismissed by Ahmed in the penultimate over of the match.
Can India reach Asia Cup final 2022?
India, who desperately needed Pakistan to lose both their matches for them to qualify for Asia Cup 2022 final to be played in Dubai on Sunday, have been official knocked out of the tournament after this match.
Irrespective of whether India beat Afghanistan in their last match tomorrow or not, they will not be able to qualify for the next round. With both Sri Lanka and Pakistan winning a couple of Super 4 matches, they will also be playing the final apart from their last match of this round on Friday.
