Pakistan clinch top ODI ranking after clean sweep against Afghanistan
Cricket
Shadab Khan achieved three-wicket haul while Shaheen Afridi dismissed two Afghan players
COLOMBO (Dunya News) – Pakistan defeated Afghanistan on Saturday by 59 runs in the third match to clinch the ODI series 3-0 at Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The 59-run victory propelled the Babar Azam-led team green to No. 1 spot in ICC Men’s ODI rankings for teams just weeks out from the start of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup in India.
Pakistan have dethroned the first-placed Australia in the rankings to win the top position, a new milestone achieved by the national team under the captaincy of Babar Azam.
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) August 26, 2023
In the third match, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan's strong partnership helped Pakistan set a target of 269 runs for Afghanistan after the team suffered early losses due to removal of opening pair Imamul Haq and Fakhar Zaman, who scored 13 and 27, respectively. The openers were dismissed by Afghan bowler Gulbadin Naib.
Salman Ali Agha and Mohammad Nawaz also played a key role to boost the score as they made 38 and 30, respectively.
In response, Afghanistan could score 209 as Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi and other Pakistan bowlers showed impressive skills.
Opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz could not maintain his momentum was he was dismissed by Faheem Ashraf for five runs. His partner Riaz Hassan remained top scorer with 34 runs and he was sent to pavilion by Shadab Khan.
After Ibrahim Zardan and captain Hashmatullah Shahidi failed to perform, Shahidullah gave a boost to the team’s chase by scoring 37 runs before he was removed by Shadab.
Mujeebur Rehman held the nerves as he smashed the fastest fifty from Afghanistan but his 67-run knock ended in vein as Pakistan won the match by 59 runs.
