Pakistan have already won the three-match ODI Series 2023 against Afghanistan 2-0 and now another victory on Saturday would confirm their place at the top of the ICC ODI Men’s ODI Team Rankings – PTV Sports Live.
As of now, Australia and Pakistan are placed in the first and second spots respectively at the table with 118 rankings each; however, today’s win will lead green shirts to surpass the Aussies in the Rankings.
A win today against Afghanistan will see Pakistan go top of the @MRFWorldwide ICC Men’s ODI Team Rankings.
Details 👇https://t.co/q7HvXAp1Zp
— ICC (@ICC) August 26, 2023
The third One Day International (ODI) between Pakistan and Afghanistan will be held at Colombo on Saturday.
Pakistan Squad for the third ODI:
- Imam Ul Haq
- Fakhar Zaman
- Babar Azam (Captain)
- Mohammad Rizwan (Wicket Keeper)
- Saud Shakeel
- Salman Ali Agha
- Shadab Khan
- Mohammad Nawaz
- Faheem Ashraf
- Shaheen Shah Afridi
- Mohammad Wasim Jr
Afghanistan Squad for the third ODI:
- Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Wicket Keeper)
- Ibrahim Zadran
- Hashmatullah Shahidi (Captain)
- Gulbadin Naib
- Riaz Hassan
- Shahidullah Kamal
- Mohammad Nabi
- Fareed Ahmad Malik
- Rashid Khan
- Mujeeb Ur Rehman
- Fazalhaq Farooqi
The two previous ODIs took place at Hambantota on August 22 and 24 respectively.
Touchdown Colombo! 🛬
The boys have arrived for the final match of the series as they celebrate @Wasim_Jnr‘s birthday 🥳🎂#AFGvPAK | #BackTheBoysInGreen pic.twitter.com/HttnJbH9h7
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) August 25, 2023
In the first match, Pakistan sealed a comfortable 142 runs victory. However, the second ODI turned out to be nail-biting contest in which Pakistan clinched the victory in the second last ball of the match.
Batting first, Afghanistan scored 300 for 5 in stipulated 50 overs. Their opening pair Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran built a 227-run partnership under 40 overs. Gurbaz smashed 151 runs while Zadran scored 80.
However, once they got out, the rest of the Afghan batting line up couldn’t contribute much and the entire team finished with 300 runs on the board.
In response, Pakistan also had a brilliant start and scored 170 for the loss just one wicket in 30 overs. Later, they began to lose wickets in regular intervals but yet succeeded to reach the target with just one wicket in hand when Naseem Shah struck two boundaries in the final over.
That was for u @76Shadabkhan. That was for my team. That was for all the fans of Pakistan cricket. Well played @ImamUlHaq12 bhai. #PakistanZindabad pic.twitter.com/Ztlo62BznO
— Naseem Shah (@iNaseemShah) August 24, 2023
For Pakistan, Imam Ul Haq, Babar Azam and Shadab Khan were the top scorers with 91, 53 and 48 runs respectively.
