PAK vs AFG, World Cup: After 1168 balls Pakistan Finally End Powerplay Six-drought

Pakistan finally managed to end the drought of hitting a six in the powerplay in ODIs. During the ODI World Cup match against Afghanistan, opener Abdullah Shafique smashed a six for Pakistan in powerplay after 1168 balls. The Pakistan team was facing a lot of scrutiny before the start of the match for playing defensively in the powerplay as they didn’t hit a six in the first 10 overs this year.

It was the fifth over of the innings when Shafique smashed Naveen-ul-Haq for a maximum over square leg. The right-handed batter also smashed another one in the 8th over as he connected over long-off to hit Mujeeb-Ur Rahman for a maximum.

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Pakistan in first powerplay (1-10 overs) this year:

• Innings – 20
• Runs – 945
• Balls – 1202
• Dots – 789
• Fours – 131
• Sixes – 2

Pakistan captain Babar Azam won the toss and opted to bat first in the Cricket World Cup match against Afghanistan in Chennai on Monday.

“The pitch looks very dry and might spin. We have to give our 100 per cent in every match and step up, that’s what I want from my players. The pitch might help the pacers under lights,” Babar said at the toss.

Pakistan, who have two wins and as many defeats from four games, brought in Shadab Khan for fellow spinner Mohammad Nawaz who is ruled out with illness.

“We wanted to bat first, but the toss is not in your hand. We played a series against them in Sri Lanka and we wanted more spinning options. We want to restrict them to 250 or less,” Shahidi said.

Afghanistan, who have just one win from four matches, named left-arm spinner Noor Ahmad in place of fast bowler Fazalhaq Farooqi.

Teams:

Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan (wkt), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Shahen Shah Afridi, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf

Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil (wkt), Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Noor Ahmad