Pakistan win the 3rd T20I by 66 runs as Afghanistan clinched the series by 2-1

The third and final T20I match of the series between Afghanistan and Pakistan was played at Sharjah Cricket Stadium which Men in Green won by 66 runs on Monday. However, this victory was not enough for the Shadab Khan-led PAK side who already lost the series by 2-0 before heading to this match.

In the absence of Babar Azam, the leg-spinner Shadab Khan was allowed to lead PAK but the side lost the series to 1-2 against Rashid Khan-led Afghanistan. Pakistan had to face defeat against Afghanistan for the first time in the T20 series. After losing two consecutive matches against Afghanistan the first match was by 6 wickets and the second match was by 7 wickets. 

Standing 3rd place in the T20I rankings Pakistan made a strong comeback in the third match and avoided a clean sweep against the 10th-place Afghanistan side. In this match, Pakistan's team came out to bat first and posted 182 runs on the board for 7 wickets in 20 overs. 

In this, the young opening batter of the side Saim Aybu scored 49 off 40 balls with the help of 4 fours and 2 sixes, while middle-order batsman Iftikhar Ahmed added 31 off 25 balls with the help of 2 sixes. Apart from this, Captain Shadab Khan scored 28 smashing 5 fours in his quickfire innings, Abdullah Shafique 23, Imad Wasim 13 and Tyeb Tahir scored 10 runs to help the side cross the mark of 180 runs.

Chasing the runs, the Afghan side got all out for 116 runs in 18.4 overs. Lower-order batter Azmatullah Omarzai was the highest scorer for the side with 21 runs. Three Afghan batters got out on a duck apart from Omarzai no other batter even crossed the mark of 20 runs mark in this high-run chase. 

Apart from batting, PAK bowlers did a great job in the bowling as well skipper Shadab Khan himself led the side by taking 3/13 in his 4 overs with an economy of 3.25. The team’s young fast bowler Ihsanullah took 3 wickets after spending 29 runs in 4 overs. Apart from this, fast bowler Wasim Junior, Zaman Khan and spinner Imad Wamis got a 1-1 success.