Pakistan post challenging 282 before Afghanistan

Pakistan posted a challenging total of 282 runs in a slow track against Afghanistan in the 22nd game of the ICC Cricket World Cup in Chennai.

The men in green collected 61 runs in the last five overs to accumulate the respectable total at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Monday.

Opting to bat, Pakistan got a solid start with a 56-run stand by openers Abdullah Shafique (58) and Imam-ul-Haq (17). Then skipper Babar Azam (74) came in and provided another 50-pus partnership with Shafique.

Pakistan at a time was 110/1 after 22.2 overs which was quite a comfortable situation but they lost momentum offering three wickets in 53 runs and fell under pressure. Left-handed Saud Shakeel added 25 in the middle.

Later, Shadab Khan (40 from 38) and Iftikhar Ahmed (40 from 27) played cameos at the end to take Pakistan to the respectable 282.

Noor Ahmed was the pick of the Afghan bowlers taking three wickets while Naveen-ul-Haq got two.

Both sides made one change each in their playing XI as Shadab Khan replaced Mohammad Nawaz, who has a fever. Afghanistan, on the other hand, banked upon spin and added an extra spinner as Noor Ahmad came in for Fazalhaq Farooqi.

Playing XIs

Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf.

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