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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Protests against killing of Khamenei: Strict curbs in place in Kashmir valley
Srinagar (PTI): Restrictions on movement of people in Kashmir valley were intensified on Friday as authorities apprehended protests against the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after congregational prayers this afternoon.
Normal life in the valley has been disrupted for the sixth consecutive day due to protests over the killing of Khamenei in US-Israel joint strikes.
The restrictions were imposed on Monday after spontaneous protests broke out across Kashmir a day earlier against the killing.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday held a meeting with civil society representatives and religious leaders as part of efforts to bring the situation back to normalcy.
After the meeting, Abdullah appealed to people to maintain peace.
The protests have waned after the meeting convened by the chief minister with the number of places affected due to law and order situation dropping from several dozen on Tuesday to less than 10 on Thursday.
The government has shut educational institutions till Saturday, and reduced mobile internet speeds.
A large number of police and paramilitary CRPF personnel were deployed across the city in the early hours to prevent gatherings of protestors, the officials said.
They added that concertina wires and barricades were placed at important intersections leading into the city, while asserting that these were precautionary measures imposed to maintain law and order.
The iconic Ghanta Ghar in the city centre of Lal Chowk here continued to remain a no-go zone after the authorities sealed area with barricades erected all around it on late Sunday night.
The move to seal the Ghanta Ghar came after it witnessed massive protests on Sunday after Khamenei's assassination.
This is the first time since August 2019 -- when Article 370 was revoked -- that protests on such a large scale have taken place in Kashmir.
