AFG VS PAK - 3rd T20I, Afghanistan v Pakistan in UAE, 2023

Afghanistan - 2 | Pakistan - 1. Afghanistan might have lost tonight, but they will be really pleased with their first ever T20I series win against their neighbours. Rashid Khan collects the trophy as the Afghainstan players along with their family members pose for the cameras. Pakistan looked rusty in the first two games and lost the series there itself, but they were right on the money today. Their batters posted a massive total, and the bowlers turned up as they defended it without breaking a sweat. Ihsanullah was quite impressive and looks like he has got a really bright future for Pakistan. For now, this is Nikhil signing off on behalf of Abhinav and Vinod. IPL 2023 starts in less than a week's time, so see you guys soon!

Rashid Khan, Afghanistan captain: Special occasion to be part of this team, it was a great effort from everyone. We won the series, but we have areas to improve on. It was a great learning curve for us. We responded well under pressure, we have struggled under pressure in the past. Happy that we chased in a couple of games, it was difficult to bat. But we need to work on a lot of areas in the future. This was a much better wicket than the first two games. I felt 10 an over was gettable on this wicket. But the run-out and Najib got hurt, and we lost wickets in the middle. Any series after this is a good preparation for us before the World Cup. Every game teaches us and the youngsters are going to be much better (in the upcoming games). Need to stay fit and work hard, need to make it as hard as possible for the batters. Need to keep it simple and not experiment much. Don't want to be confused and I need to keep hitting the right areas.

Mohammad Nabi, Player of the Series: First two games were played in tough conditions, back to form after a long time. I tried to give my best while bowling and batting. It wasn't a proper call and wasn't a good decision to take the second run (that resulted in the run-out).

Shadab Khan, Player of the Match: We wanted to finish on a high note and we have done that. We had to adapt the conditions and the batters managed to do that today. We needed to play for Pakistan's pride and we did it. The main motive of this series was to give the youngsters a chance, hopefully they will get confidence from these games and it will help them in the long run.

23:26 Local Time, 19:26 GMT, 00:56 IST: As a result of a fine performance by their bowlers in the first two games, Afghanistan managed to take a 2-0 lead in the series. But Pakistan came up with a much better batting display tonight. Saim Ayub gave them a really good start with his knock of 49 and laid the foundation, while, Shafique, Iftikhar and Shadab Khan chipped in with handy cameos as Pakistan finished with 182/7. In reply, Afghanistan got off to a decent start, but once Gurbaz was clean bowled, Afghanistan kept losing wickets at regular intervals. In fact, from 71/3 they collapsed to 73/7 as Ihsanullah and Shadab took four wickets within a span of two overs. Najibullah was hit on the chin by a nasty bouncer by Ihsanullah during the same period as he walked back to the pavilion retired hurt. Azmatullah Omarzai came in as the concussion substitute for Najibullah, but there was nothing much he could do as the damage was already done. Omarzai played a few enterprising shots and entertained the crowd but eventually Pakistan won the game by a big margin and avoided the whitewash. Stay around for the presentations..

Zaman Khan to Azmatullah, out Caught by Tayyab Tahir!! Azmatullah - the concussion substitute is the last man out. Pakistan win by 66 runs! Azmatullah tries to go for the aerial route and lofts this towards long-on, but he can't clear the fielder stationed near the boundary. Taken by Tahir in the deep and that's game, set, match. Azmatullah c Tayyab Tahir b Zaman Khan 21(20) [4s-2 6s-1]

Zaman Khan to Azmatullah, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

Zaman Khan to Azmatullah, wide, full and wide outside off, misses the tramline comfortably

Zaman Khan to Azmatullah, no run, full and quick on middle and leg, Azmatullah drills it to long-on along the turf

Zaman Khan to Azmatullah, no run, yorker length ball outside off, Azmatullah swings and misses

Zaman Khan to Azmatullah, no run, low full toss on middle, Azmatullah whips it to deep mid-wicket

Mohammad Wasim Jr to Azmatullah, 1 run, short one at the ribs, hooked through square leg for a single

Mohammad Wasim Jr to Azmatullah, no run, pitched up by the bowler on off, Azmatullah drives it crisply to cover

Mohammad Wasim Jr to Azmatullah, no run, full and quick on off, Azmatullah drills it straight to the fielder at cover, lovely timing but in vain

Mohammad Wasim Jr to Azmatullah, FOUR, clears his front leg and whacks this shorter ball over wide mid-off as the fielder who was sprinting back fails to stop the boundary

Mohammad Wasim Jr to Azmatullah, no run, and now he makes room and drills the full and quick ball to mid-off

Mohammad Wasim Jr to Azmatullah, no run, full toss on offf, Azmatullah mistimes his lofted shot to mid-off

Mohammad Wasim Jr [2.0-0-8-1] is back into the attack

Zaman Khan to Fazalhaq Farooqi, no run, squeezed down the pitch by Fazalhaq Farooqi

Zaman Khan to Azmatullah, 1 run, whipped uppishly to deep mid-wicket and the ball dips in front of the fielder who was diving forward, good effort by Shafique that