Naseem Shah’s last-minute heroics power Pakistan to dramatic victory over Afghanistan

New Delhi: The second One Day International (ODI) between Pakistan & Afghanistan on Thursday saw a cliffhanger like situation but the last-minute heroics by Naseem Shah settled the match in former’s favour.

Shah, with his big & powerful knocks, steered his side to one-wicket win over the rival team. With this win, Pakistan also sealed ODI series win over Afghanistan.

Pakistani cricketers & supporters got into celebratory mode as Naseem smashed boundary in the last over and tilted the game in own favour. With 3 more runs to win, the victory came easy.

NASEEM SHAH VS AFGHANISTAN IS JUST SOMETHING ELSE pic.twitter.com/7SfsWAE18r

— nma (@namaloomafraaad) August 24, 2023

Drama that happened in last 2 overs

The ODI at Hambantota saw Afghanistan in sublime form as the team, riding on Gurbaz’s career-best innings of 151 runs, put a total of 300 runs on the scoreboard. The target looked formidable and Pakistan side did fumble in the run-chase but Naseem’s blistering knock in last overs brought a dramatic victory for the Men in Green.

Naseem Shah’s incredible finish…!!!

– An ODI classic, What a great match.pic.twitter.com/CQwLv7k3On

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) August 25, 2023

Pakistan score 11 runs in the final over and finished the game with 302 in 49.5 overs. The sentiments on Pakistan side were depressing as the team was 9 wickets down in last over and had over 10 runs to chase for victory. Naseem hit a boundary on the penultimate ball and raised hopes of team. Eventually, Pakistan chased down the target with one ball to spare.

With this victory, Pakistan didn’t just take unassailable 2-0 lead in the three match series but also overshadowed Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s innings of 151 runs.

Final ODI encounter

Pakistan will take on Afghanistan in the 3rd ODI in Colombo on Friday. Pakistan’s sublime comes just ahead of Asia Cup and it is set to rekindle the hopes of Pakistani hopes of their team doing some magic in upcoming tournament.

In the first ODI match, Pakistan was even more clinical. It bundled out the whole Afghanistan team for a mere 59 runs while it chased a target of 202 runs.

Pakistan Vs Afghanistan 2nd ODI: Highlights