Thursday at Hambantota, Sri Lanka, Pakistan defeated Afghanistan by one wicket to take the three-match series.
Imam-ul-Haq’s 105-ball innings helped Pakistan, who were chasing 301 to win the series, get there with one ball to spare.
Pakistan maintained composure to win the second ODI by the slimmest of margins—with a ball and a wicket to spare—in the last overs of the second innings, which were laced with one dramatic moment after another.
As he stole away what would have been Afghanistan’s first ODI victory against Pakistan, Naseem Shah tormented the team once more.
As Pakistan scored 11 runs off the last over to end with 302-9 in 49.5 overs, the 20-year-old mishit a boundary off fast bowler Fazalhaq Farooqi and sprinted joyously to the dressing room.
With the last game in the three-match series taking place on Saturday in Colombo, Pakistan already has a commanding 2-0 lead.
Earlier, Afghanistan reached 300-5 thanks to the swashbuckling opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who smashed a career-high 151.
After Afghanistan won the toss and chose to bat, the 21-year-old produced an aggressive run-per-ball century and shared an opening stand of 227 with Ibrahim Zadran, who hit an 80 off of 101 balls.
Gurbaz hit 14 boundaries and three sixes against a top-notch assault that had reduced Afghanistan to 59 all out on Tuesday in order for Afghanistan to win and even the three-match series.
Gurbaz’s previous best was 145, which he scored last month in Chattogram against Bangladesh.
Zadran also displayed excellent striking, hitting two sixes and six boundaries.
Usama Mir, a spinner, broke the opening partnership in the 40th over by getting Zadran caught at far off, and in the 45th over, lanky pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi had Gurbaz out caught behind.
Rashid Khan was also taken out for two by Shaheen, who finished with a 2-58.
Afghanistan amassed 73 runs in the last ten overs, with Mohammad Nabi scoring a run-a-ball 29 before being caught by Naseem Shah.
Haris Rauf, a fast bowler who had a career-high 5-18 in the first game, went for 48 in seven unsuccessful overs.
Scorecard
Afghanistan
Rahmanullah Gurbaz c Mohammad Rizwan b Shaheen Afridi 151
Ibrahim Zadran c Iftikhar Ahmed b Usama Mir 80
Mohammad Nabi c Imam ul-Haq b Naseem Shah 29
Rashid Khan lbw Shaheen Afridi 2
Shahidullah Kamal Run Out Shaheen Afridi 1
Hashmatullah Shahidi Not Out 15
Abdul Rahman Not Out 4
Extras 0b 11lb 2nb 0pen 5w 18
Total (50.0 overs) 300-5
Fall of Wickets : 1-227 Zadran, 2-256 Gurbaz, 3-260 Khan, 4-270 Kamal, 5-294 Nabi
Did Not Bat : Hassan, Khil, Ur Rahman, Farooqi
Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ Ex
Shaheen Afridi 10 0 58 2 5.80 1nb
Naseem Shah 9 0 45 1 5.00 3w 1nb
Haris Rauf 7 0 48 0 6.86
Shadab Khan 10 0 53 0 5.30 1w
Usama Mir 10 0 61 1 6.10 1w
Iftikhar Ahmed 4 0 24 0 6.00
………………………………………………………..
Pakistan
Fakhar Zaman b Fazalhaq Farooqi 30
Imam ul-Haq c Riaz Hassan b Mujeeb Ur Rahman 91
Babar Azam c Hashmatullah Shahidi b Fazalhaq Farooqi 53
Mohammad Rizwan Run Out Hashmatullah Shahidi 2
Agha Salman c Rahmanullah Gurbaz b Mohammad Nabi 14
Usama Mir c Shahidullah Kamal b Mohammad Nabi 0
Iftikhar Ahmed c Mohammad Nabi b Abdul Rahman 17
Shadab Khan Run Out Fazalhaq Farooqi 48
Shaheen Afridi c Rashid Khan b Fazalhaq Farooqi 4
Naseem Shah Not Out 10
Haris Rauf Not Out 3
Extras 0b 6lb 0nb 0pen 24w 30
Total (49.5 overs) 302-9
Fall of Wickets : 1-52 Zaman, 2-170 Azam, 3-176 Rizwan, 4-208 Salman, 5-208 Mir, 6-211 ul-Haq, 7-258 Ahmed, 8-272 Afridi, 9-290 Khan
Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ Ex
Fazalhaq Farooqi 9.5 0 69 3 7.02 2w
Mujeeb Ur Rahman 10 0 45 1 4.50 2w
Abdul Rahman 10 0 83 1 8.30 4w
Mohammad Nabi 10 0 46 2 4.60 2w
Rashid Khan 10 0 53 0 5.30 2w