After sweeping Pakistan in the three-match ODI series, Pakistan ascended to the top of the standings. On Saturday, August 26, Pakistan defeated Afghanistan at the R Premadasa Stadium by a score of 59 runs to win the series.
Ahead of the ODI World Cup in 2023, Pakistan climbed the standings and ousted Australia from first place. If the team wins the Asia Cup in 2023, they will have a chance to hold onto the top spot going into the major ICC tournament. Australia currently has 2714 points, behind Pakistan's 2725. India enters the continental tournament in third place.
It was appropriate that Pakistan's skipper Babar Azam and wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan, who put up a valiant 110-run partnership in difficult batting circumstances, led the team. The onus was on the veteran batsmen of the team to carry the bulk of the load after Pakistan's openers Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq returned to the pavilion after just 13 overs. In the opening innings of the game, Babar (60 off 86) and Rizwan (67 off 79) both fell short of expectations and steadily added runs.
Pakistan was able to defend a reasonable score thanks to helpful contributions from Muhammad Nawaz (30 off 25) and Salman Agha (38* off 31).
Pakistan would have been confident after holding on to 202 runs in the first ODI of the series, but they were without Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf for this game.
However, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Faheem Ashraf got off to a strong start with the new ball and shocked Afghanistan by getting rid of centurion Rahmanullah Gurbaz from the previous game. At the start of the 33rd over, Hashmatullah Shahidi's squad was 97/7 and facing yet another defeat thanks to the efforts of spinners Shadab Khan and Muhammad Nawaz.
