Asia Cup 2018 : Pakistan beat Afghanistan by three wickets
Abu Dhabi, Sep 22 : Pakistan got themselves prepared for the India challenge on Sunday with a nervy three-wicket win over Afghanistan in a nail-biting Super Four contest of the Asia Cup at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium here on Friday.
Chasing a modest 258, Pakistan were in control with a 154-run second wicket stand between Imam-ul-Haq (80) and Babar Azam (66) before losing their way with the fall of regular wickets, only to be rescued by former skipper Shoaib Malik's belligerent 43-ball unbeaten 51.
Pakistan managed to recover from the early loss of opener Fakhar Zaman (0), Imam and Babar's patient knocks before a mix-up resulted in the run-out of Imam.
Babar soon followed the opener to the pavilion even as Pakistan's middle order woes continued to haunt them with number 4 Haris Sohail (13), skipper Sarfraz Ahmed (8), Asif Ali (7) and Mohammad Nawaz (10) all departing within a span of just 48 runs.
Malik, however, wasn't deterred by the situation and held one end up to keep Pakistan's hopes alive, and together with Hasan Ali (6 not out) overcame the scare to finally overhaul the target with three balls to spare.
For the Afghans, leg-spinner Rashid Khan (3/46) and Mujeeb Ur Rahman (2/33) were the main wicket-takers while Gulbadin Naib chipped in with one scalp.
Earlier, electing to bat after winning the toss, Afghanistan rode an undefeated half century from Hashmatullah Shahidi (97 not out) and skipper Asghar Afghan's stroke-filled 56-ball 67 to post a challenging 257/7.
Afghanistan started off well with Rahmat Shah (36) and Shahidi raising 63 runs for the third wicket before the latter went on to add 94 runs with his skipper to propel the team to a decent total.
Brief Scores: Afghanistan 257/6 (Hashmatullah Shahidi 97 not out, Asghar Afghan 67; Mohammad Nawaz 3/57) lose to Pakistan 258/7 (Imam-ul-Haq 80, Babar Azam 66, Shoaib Malik 51 not out; Rashid Khan 3/46) by 3 wickets.
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Minor girl kidnapped and raped; main accused and two cafe owners held
Latur (PTI): A minor girl was allegedly kidnapped and raped by an 18-year-old man in Latur, leading to the arrest of the main accused and owners of two cafes where the crime occurred on December 4, police said on Saturday.
Police traced the girl within hours of registering the complaint. The accused, identified as Rihan Gulab Shaikh, was arrested based on the girl's complaint. Two others are owners of two cafes where the crime occurred, police said.
Police registered a case under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), POCSO Act, and the Prevention of Atrocities Act, an official said.
