Afghanistan beat Pakistan with 18 runs in the UAE during the Asian Cup Tri-Series warm-up.
Released on September 2, 2025
Ibrahim Zadran and Sediqullah Atal destroyed a back-to-back half-century before Afghan spinner strangled Pakistan’s deep batting lineup to narrow down an 18-run victory in the opening T20 of the Tri Series.
The spin trio of Captain Rashid Khan, Mohamad Navi and left-arm spinner Noah Ahmad were playing their first match of the tournament and snuck six wickets to limit Pakistan to 151-9.
Zadran (65) and Atal (64) were in the stands for 113 runs, following a half-century with the UAE a day ago, as Afghanistan posted 169-5 after winning a toss and was selected for the field.
It was the fourth consecutive game in the Try Series, where the team managed to defend the total. The Arab Emirates lost both games while chasing against Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Harris Rauf’s four-wicket haul led Pakistan to a 39-run victory in the opening game of the tournament, but on Tuesday, 34 batters scored the top score, rather than 16. Rauf’s blitz was too late as the Afghan spinner effectively sealed the game by narrowing Pakistan down to 111-9 in 17 overs.
Fast Bowler Fazalhaq Farooqi set up the Afghan game with two wickets within the power play. The left-handed pitcher hit his first ball when Saim Ayub caught a wrong pull shot to the wicketkeeper and was fired without scoring.
Sahibzada Farhan (18) hit two sixes, but was bowled neatly from a delivery that was caught between a right-handed batsman and hit an off-stamp by Farooqi.
Fakar Zaman was unable to change his good start from 18 balls, 25 runs, after an Afghan spinner bowled from both ends. Zaman slices a catch that is easy to shorten a third from the navigation, and captain Salman Ariaga was brilliantly exhausted by Khan at the end of the non-striker.
Hasan Nawaz was unable to clear Ahmad’s first ball, the low-legged full toss, and was caught with short, fine legs before Mohammad Harris’ poorly shaped run continued, and he drilled a hole in the deep square leg of the navigation as Pakistan slammed 82-6 in 12th place.
Khan chose Mohammad Nawaz’s wicket from another incorrect shot by the Pakistani batsman and rattled Shaheen Afridi’s stump before Rauf denied Khan’s hat trick. Nohl concluded the perfect day when he cleaned Ashraf from the final ball.
Previously, Zadran and Atal shared a first century position before Ashraf’s 4-27 would not allow Afghanistan to score freely in death.
Both batsmen joined when Ayub bowled three economic overs on the power play, and also explained the wickets of Rahmanullah Gurbaz (8) in his first over.
Zadran and Atal took a rather pace in the partnership right after a power play with Rauf and a power play with two spinners (Nawaz and Sufiyan Muqeem), running eight wicketless overs with 95 combined.
Ashraf chose all four wickets in the final three overs. As Afghanistan couldn’t accelerate in the final five overs, he tricked Azmathura Omarzai and Navi and Zadran and Atal got caught up in the outfield, deceiving Azmathura Omarzai and Navi.
Both Pakistan and Afghanistan each score four points after three games, but the UAE facing Pakistan on Thursday has no points.
The series is part of the team’s warm-up for the 2025 Asian Cup, which will begin in the UAE on September 9th, with India beginning as the defending champion.
