Afghanistan win toss, elect to bat first against Pakistan in T20I tri-series

SHARJAH: Afghanistan have won the toss and opted to bat first against Pakistan in the fourth match of the UAE-hosted T20I tri-series here at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.

Squads

Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha (c), Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf and Sufiyan Muqeem.

Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Karim Janat, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan (c), Mohammad Nabi, AM Ghazanfar, Noor Ahmad and Fazalhaq Farooqi.

Head-to-head

Pakistan and Afghanistan have come face-to-face eight times in T20Is, with the former boasting a dominant record with five triumphs, closely followed by Afghanistan with three.

The two teams have played only one bilateral series in 2023, which Afghanistan won 2-1.

Matches: 8
Pakistan: 5
Afghanistan: 3

Form Guide

Pakistan and Afghanistan enter the high-stakes fixture with contrasting momentum in their favour as the Green Shirts have just one defeat in their last five completed T20Is, while Afghanistan have three victories in their as many recent games.

The two teams also locked horns in the opening match of the T20I tri-series on Friday, which Pakistan won comprehensively by 39 runs.

Batting first, the Green Shirts accumulated 182/7 in their allotted 20 overs, courtesy of their skipper Salman Ali Agha’s brisk half-century.

Agha top-scored with a 36-ball 53, studded with three fours and as many sixes.

In response, Afghanistan’s batting unit could yield 143 before being bowled out in 19.5 overs. Skipper Rashid Khan remained the top-scorer with a blistering 39 off 16 deliveries.

Pakistan: W, W, W, L, W (most recent first)

Afghanistan: W, L, W, W, L