AFG VS PAK - 1st T20I, Afghanistan v Pakistan in UAE, 2023

A balmy September evening had so many Afghan fans weeping as they had slipped to a close loss against Pakistan in an Asia Cup clash. But that has been avenged. Ignominy hit the Pakistan team pretty hard as they were restricted to only 92 in their 20 overs as both pace and spin were tough to deal with. Afghanistan almost had cold feet as well as they fell prey to the short ball. But Nabi came to the party. The exuberance of youth cliche was asked to take the back seat. The seasoned campaigner showed it how it's done. Alongside Najibullah, Nabi finished it off in a calm manner. The celebrations by Afghanistan standards were sober as well. Signs of a bigger goal? Might well be. Pakistan have fielded a young side and their new pacers also gave us a glimpse that Pakistan's pace bowling stocks can never go out of fashion. But can their batters turn it around? The series has just rolled. This is KAD in company of Anurag and Praveen wishing you ta ta ta!

Rashid Khan: It is always a huge pleasure. So happy that we crossed the line. Happy for the win. Hoping to continue the momentum. Happy with the performances. Proud to be leading this side. You don't know the wicket at Sharjah. We were trying to adjust to the wicket. We were trying to figure out what a good score was. We need to improve the top-order. We need to be much better. We have the ability. We need to play the right shot at the right moment. Need to keep improving day by day.

Shadab Khan: I think tactics were fine. Sometimes these things can happen as we have lot of youngsters in our side. We can't give too many excuses as a professional. This is a different ball game altogether. In the bowling, we had so many positives. Ihsanullah was excellent and Zaman Khan as well. Both were making their debuts and were under pressure. We will give our 100 percent in the next game.

Mohammad Nabi, Player of the Match: Congrats to everyone. Tough to chase in these conditions. As a batting group, my plan was to bat on and take responsibility. Most of the guys are playing in big leagues. Some guys came from the PSL. We wanted to do our best in the series. Sometimes 38 is equivalent to a 100 in conditions like these.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz: Exciting moment for us. Finally we won. It was not easy. Just watch and play according to the plan was the talk from the coach. Nabi is experienced. The way we bowled was amazing and the way we finished as well. Our confidence will get higher. We have to improve our skills.

23:11 Local Time, 19:11 GMT, 00:41 IST: Nabi and Najibullah have done it. Afghanistan have done it. Pakistan have been humbled here. Afghanistan win this by 6 wickets. This is the first time that Afghanistan have beaten Pakistan in a T20I. They were made to sweat despite starting off well in the first four overs. Ihsanullah picked up two wickets in his first over and threatened to ruin the party for Afghanistan but wasn't to be. Nabi came in and just tried to be the adhesive in the middle over. And then found an able ally in the form of Najibullah who scored at a decent rate as well. This is a huge result for Afghanistan. Earlier, Pakistan batters were made to sweat and scored only 92 for the loss of 9 wickets in their 20 overs. The Afghanistan team just didn't let their foot off the pedal. They kept exercising more pressure and Pakistan snailed to 92. The wicket was a bone of contention. It was dicey or may be made to look dicey. There was some hope but Nabi was back...

Ihsanullah to Nabi, SIX, fuller ball and biffed down the ground for a sixer! This is huge. Afghanistan beat Pakistan for the first time in T20Is. That was in the slot and put away by a man who was recalled for this huge series

Ihsanullah to Nabi, wide, the scores are level! Nabi will be on strike for the next ball. It is fitting he should finish it off

Ihsanullah to Najibullah, 1 run, another inside edge takes Afghanistan closer to the win. Only two needed now. Was a back of a length delivery and Najibullah pushed at it but got an inside edge which went past the sticks

Ihsanullah to Najibullah, no run, backs away to a short ball, looks to bludgeon it on the off-side and misses

Ihsanullah to Nabi, 1 run, length delivery, Nabi looks to punch it and gets an inside edge down to fine leg for a single

Ihsanullah to Najibullah, leg byes, 1 run, fuller length delivery, on the pads, Najibullah looks to heave it away and the ball rolls away off the pads for a single

Ihsanullah [3.0-0-8-2] is back into the attack

Naseem Shah to Nabi, FOUR, and that's landed over the man at deep square but inside the fence. Was a short of length delivery, Nabi went for the pull and got it over the fielder. He has decided to cut loose. Only 5 needed now

Naseem Shah to Nabi, FOUR, and now the wheels are indeed are coming off as that was another short ball. The ball sat up and Nabi slammed the ball on the front foot to get it past mid-wicket for a four

Naseem Shah to Nabi, 2 runs, stood up tall, got hold of the skiddy short ball and pulled it wide of deep square for a couple. Even was looking for a third as that was hit to the larger part of the ground

Naseem Shah to Najibullah, 1 run, short of length delivery, pulled down to deep square for a single. That wasn't timed

Naseem Shah to Nabi, 1 run, short ball, Nabi gets on top of the bounce and pulls the ball down and wide of fine leg for a single

Naseem Shah to Nabi, no run, some seam movement in the 17th over as Nabi looks to go big and misses outside off. The ball swirled and went into the gloves of the keeper

Naseem Shah [3.0-0-15-1] is back into the attack