LEEDS, England, September 24, 2026: Pakistan needed 46 runs from the final five overs. Six wickets were already gone. Afghanistan’s spinners had turned Headingley into a trap, Pakistan’s World Cup campaign was hanging over the edge, and Imad Wasim had already admitted to himself that he could barely read Rashid Khan.
Then Afghanistan changed the bowler.
Gulbadin Naib brought himself back into the attack.
Eighteen runs disappeared in one over.
Story at a glance
Pakistan vs Afghanistan 2019 World Cup Match at a Glance
The result, match details and Player of the Match are recorded in the contemporary scorecard. CricketArchive
Why Match 33 Belongs in A Celebration of 5000 ODIs
The original A Celebration of 5000 ODIs master list picked this match for one straightforward reason: Pakistan’s World Cup hopes were hanging by a thread, and they still needed 46 from the final five overs with four wickets remaining.
Shaheen Afridi Turns Afghanistan’s Fast Start Into 27/2
Afghanistan began aggressively enough to make Pakistan uncomfortable.
Asghar Afghan Refuses to Let Afghanistan Retreat
At 57/3, Afghanistan had a choice.
Najibullah Zadran Finds the Runs Afghanistan Needed at the Death
Najibullah Zadran’s 42 from 54 balls was arguably Afghanistan’s most important batting contribution because it came when the innings could easily have faded below 200.
Suddenly, a chase that had been suffocating Pakistan had oxygen again.
Imad stayed. Shadab Khan helped him drag Pakistan closer. Wahab Riaz, playing with an injured hand, struck the six that shifted the pressure again. When the final over began, Pakistan needed six.
Four balls later, Imad carved the winning boundary through the off side.
Pakistan had reached 230/7 in 49.4 overs, survived by three wickets and kept their World Cup semifinal hopes alive. Afghanistan, still searching for their first victory of the tournament, had come within two deliveries of producing their biggest result of the campaign. icc
That is why Pakistan vs Afghanistan at Headingley is Match 33 in A Celebration of 5000 ODIs.
This was not merely a close chase.
It was a match in which Afghanistan’s greatest strength almost eliminated Pakistan, one captaincy decision changed the mathematics of the finish, an all-rounder who could not confidently read the opposition’s best spinner became Pakistan’s last major hope, and a World Cup campaign survived with only two balls left.
TL;DR
- Afghanistan won the toss and made 227/9 from 50 overs.
- Asghar Afghan and Najibullah Zadran both scored 42.
- Shaheen Shah Afridi took 4/47, including two wickets in consecutive balls.
- Pakistan lost Fakhar Zaman for a duck in the first over.
- Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam rebuilt with a 72-run stand.
- Mohammad Nabi removed both established batters and finished with 2/23 from 10 overs.
- Pakistan slipped to 156/6 after Sarfaraz Ahmed was run out.
- Pakistan required 46 from the final five overs.
- Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib returned to bowl and conceded 18 runs in the 46th over.
- Imad Wasim finished unbeaten on 49 from 54 balls.
- Wahab Riaz struck a crucial 15 not out from nine balls.
- Pakistan won by three wickets with two balls remaining.
- Imad Wasim was named Player of the Match. CricketArchive
Pakistan vs Afghanistan 2019 World Cup Match at a Glance
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Competition | ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 |
| Match | Afghanistan vs Pakistan, Match 36 |
| Date | June 29, 2019 |
| Venue | Headingley, Leeds |
| Toss | Afghanistan won the toss and batted |
| Afghanistan | 227/9 in 50 overs |
| Pakistan | 230/7 in 49.4 overs |
| Result | Pakistan won by three wickets |
| Balls remaining | 2 |
| Player of the Match | Imad Wasim |
| Afghanistan joint top scorers | Asghar Afghan 42, Najibullah Zadran 42 |
| Pakistan top scorer | Imad Wasim 49* |
| Best Pakistan bowling | Shaheen Shah Afridi 4/47 |
| Best Afghanistan bowling | Mohammad Nabi 2/23 |
| Major tactical turning point | Gulbadin Naib’s 18-run 46th over |
| Tournament consequence | Pakistan stayed alive in the semifinal race |
The result, match details and Player of the Match are recorded in the contemporary scorecard. CricketArchive
Why Match 33 Belongs in A Celebration of 5000 ODIs
The original A Celebration of 5000 ODIs master list picked this match for one straightforward reason: Pakistan’s World Cup hopes were hanging by a thread, and they still needed 46 from the final five overs with four wickets remaining.
That description captures the tension.
It does not capture all of the strangeness.
Afghanistan had already beaten Pakistan by three wickets in a World Cup warm-up only five weeks earlier. This was therefore not a contest Pakistan could dismiss as a routine assignment against the tournament’s lowest-ranked side. icc
Afghanistan then constructed exactly the kind of match they wanted.
Their total of 227 did not look imposing. Their spin attack made it feel much larger.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman struck immediately. Mohammad Nabi conceded only 23 runs from ten overs. Rashid Khan kept Pakistan from accelerating through the middle. Samiullah Shinwari quietly contributed eight overs for 32.
Pakistan were still short of the target with their captain gone, the required rate climbing and Afghanistan’s spinners controlling the game.
Then came the decision that changed everything.
Imad later explained the logic simply. Rashid was so difficult to read that Pakistan had to survive the spin and attack the pace.
Gulbadin supplied exactly that opportunity.
That combination of pressure, tactical choice, World Cup consequence and one batter identifying the only escape route is what makes the match worthy of the series.
Readers can follow every installment through TSE’s A Celebration of 5000 ODIs archive.
Shaheen Afridi Turns Afghanistan’s Fast Start Into 27/2
Afghanistan began aggressively enough to make Pakistan uncomfortable.
Gulbadin Naib struck three boundaries during his 15 from 12 balls, and Shaheen’s opening moments were messy. He conceded ten from his first three deliveries, including overthrows after an attempted throw at the stumps.
Then the entire mood changed.
Naib was initially given not out after edging Shaheen behind. Pakistan reviewed. The decision was overturned.
On the next ball, Hashmatullah Shahidi chipped Shaheen to Imad Wasim at mid-off.
Afghanistan had gone from attacking Pakistan’s teenage quick to losing two wickets on consecutive deliveries at 27/2. icc
Shaheen was only 19. His eventual 4/47 from ten overs made him the first teenager to take four wickets in a men’s World Cup match, according to the ICC. icc
That performance belongs naturally beside TSE’s broader examination of Pakistan’s tradition of producing destructive fast bowlers and why Asian cricket remains fascinated by Pakistan’s pace heritage.
Asghar Afghan Refuses to Let Afghanistan Retreat
At 57/3, Afghanistan had a choice.
They could simply try to bat through 50 overs.
Asghar Afghan chose something more aggressive.
His 42 from 35 balls included three fours and two sixes, giving Afghanistan the one period of sustained acceleration they badly needed. Together with Ikram Alikhil, he lifted the innings from 57/3 to 121/4.
The partnership mattered because the pitch was already showing enough grip to suggest that a total around 220 could become awkward under pressure.
Asghar’s dismissal to Shadab Khan prevented him from converting the innings into something larger, but he had helped Afghanistan escape the early damage inflicted by Shaheen.
Ikram Alikhil Gives Afghanistan Stability
Ikram’s 24 from 66 balls was slow by conventional ODI standards.
In this innings, it served a purpose.
Afghanistan kept losing wickets around their stronger periods. Ikram occupied the crease long enough for Asghar to attack and helped prevent Pakistan from running through the middle order after the early double strike.
His wicket at 125/5 reopened the innings.
Afghanistan still needed somebody to carry them toward 220.
Najibullah Zadran Finds the Runs Afghanistan Needed at the Death
Najibullah Zadran’s 42 from 54 balls was arguably Afghanistan’s most important batting contribution because it came when the innings could easily have faded below 200.
Mohammad Nabi had already fallen for 16.
Najibullah stayed long enough to push Afghanistan beyond 200 before Shaheen bowled him at 202/7.
Samiullah Shinwari then remained unbeaten on 19, while Rashid, Hamid Hassan and Mujeeb added just enough late runs to take the total to 227/9.
It was not an intimidating World Cup score.
Against this Afghanistan attack, intimidation came from somewhere else.
Mohammad Nabi Turns 228 Into a Much Bigger Chase
Pakistan lost Fakhar Zaman on the second ball of the reply.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman trapped him lbw for a duck.
The early blow could have produced panic, but Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam repaired the innings with a 72-run partnership.
At 72/1, Pakistan appeared to have absorbed Afghanistan’s first attack.
Then Nabi intervened.
He had Imam stumped for 36 at the end of the 16th over.
Eight balls later, he bowled Babar for 45.
Pakistan had gone from 72/1 to 81/3. CricketArchive
Nabi’s final analysis was outstanding:
10 overs, 0 maidens, 23 runs, 2 wickets, economy 2.30.
No Afghanistan bowler applied more sustained pressure.
Mujeeb’s 2/34 complemented him perfectly.
The two off-spinners removed four of Pakistan’s top four batters between them.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman Sets the Trap From Ball Two
Mujeeb did not wait for Pakistan’s chase to settle.
His second delivery removed Fakhar.
Later, when Mohammad Hafeez tried to force the pace, Mujeeb induced another mistake and had him caught by Hashmatullah Shahidi for 19.
His figures of 2/34 from ten overs, including a maiden, were another reminder of why the ICC had identified the then-18-year-old as Afghanistan’s emerging star of the tournament. icc
Pakistan had technically been chasing only 228.
Against Nabi, Mujeeb and Rashid, they were repeatedly forced to treat singles like achievements.
Rashid Khan Removes Haris Sohail and Tightens the Noose
Haris Sohail had played major roles in Pakistan’s victories over South Africa and New Zealand entering this match.
Afghanistan prevented him from doing it again.
Rashid trapped Haris lbw for 27 at 142/5.
His spell cost 50 runs from ten overs, more than Nabi or Mujeeb, but the critical feature was timing. Haris had occupied 57 deliveries and appeared capable of taking the game deep.
His wicket exposed Pakistan’s lower order.
Four overs later, the situation became much worse.
Sarfaraz Ahmed’s Run-Out Pushes Pakistan to 156/6
Pakistan did not lose their sixth wicket to Afghanistan’s spin.
They donated it through running.
Sarfaraz Ahmed attempted a second run and was caught short after Najibullah Zadran’s throw reached wicketkeeper Ikram Alikhil.
Pakistan were 156/6 after 39 overs.
The target was 228.
Seventy-two runs were still required.
Imad Wasim was batting with the lower order.
Afghanistan could see their first victory of the World Cup.
Pakistan could see their campaign disappearing.
This was the point where Match 33 became something more than a low-scoring group game.
Imad Wasim Walks Into Afghanistan’s Spin Trap and Refuses to Leave
Imad’s unbeaten 49 from 54 balls does not look extraordinary if separated from the circumstances.
The circumstances are the innings.
He arrived at 121/4.
Pakistan subsequently lost Haris and Sarfaraz.
The pitch was turning. Nabi had been miserly. Mujeeb had removed two top-order batters. Rashid remained difficult to attack.
Imad later admitted he was struggling badly against Rashid.
“I couldn’t pick him, to be honest.”
His solution was not to pretend otherwise.
He survived.
He waited.
He looked for the bowler he believed Pakistan could attack.
Wisden quoted Imad explaining that Gulbadin was the bowler Pakistan had identified as the opportunity because Afghanistan’s spinners were so difficult to score from. Wisden
That recognition became the match.
Shadab Khan Helps Turn Survival Into a Partnership
Shadab did not produce a spectacular innings.
His 11 from 17 balls mattered because of who was at the other end.
Together, Shadab and Imad added 50 for the seventh wicket, taking Pakistan from the wreckage of 156/6 to 206/7. CricketArchive
Shadab’s job was partly to prevent Afghanistan from reaching the tail too quickly.
He did it until another run-out struck.
At 206/7 in the 47th over, Pakistan still had work to do.
This time Wahab Riaz walked in.
The Great Turning Point: Gulbadin Naib Takes the Ball
With five overs remaining, Pakistan needed approximately eight to nine runs an over.
Afghanistan’s spinners had done almost everything right.
Then Gulbadin brought himself back.
There was important context.
Hamid Hassan had suffered a hamstring problem and bowled only two overs. Afghanistan therefore did not have their intended seam resources available at the death.
Gulbadin later argued that Hassan’s injury was the central turning point because it forced Afghanistan to adjust their bowling plan. Wisden
That context matters when judging the captain.
Still, the tactical consequence was devastating.
The over cost 18 runs.
Imad attacked the change of pace and finally found the release Pakistan had been searching for.
Wisden subsequently described it as the turning point of the chase. Wisden
Afghanistan had spent most of the innings making 228 feel distant.
One over made it visible again.
Wahab Riaz Produces Nine Balls Pakistan Could Not Have Planned For
Wahab arrived with Pakistan seven wickets down.
He was carrying an injured hand.
He still made 15 from nine balls.
The defining blow came against Rashid Khan.
Pakistan’s entire strategy had been to survive Afghanistan’s premier spinner. Wahab instead found a six at precisely the moment Pakistan needed one.
The shot altered the last-over equation.
When the 50th over began, Pakistan needed six.
Imad was still there.
For Afghanistan, the problem was no longer taking wickets.
It was finding one final delivery Pakistan could not score from.
They never found it.
Imad Wasim Finishes It With Two Balls Remaining
Gulbadin bowled the final over.
Pakistan required six.
Imad remained calm enough to wait for the scoring opportunity and drove the winning boundary through the off side on the fourth delivery.
Pakistan finished 230/7 in 49.4 overs.
Three wickets remained.
Two balls remained.
Their World Cup remained alive. icc
It was an oddly precise finish to a chaotic chase.
Pakistan had not conquered Afghanistan’s spinners.
They had survived them long enough to attack everything around them.
Player of the Match: Imad Wasim
Imad Wasim was officially named Player of the Match. CricketArchive
His contribution ran through both innings.
With the ball, he took 2/48 from ten overs, removing Rahmat Shah for 35 and Ikram Alikhil for 24.
With the bat, he made the match-winning 49 not out from 54 deliveries, striking five fours.
That combination matters.
Shaheen produced Pakistan’s best bowling figures.
Imad produced the performance that connected the first innings to the result.
He helped restrict Afghanistan to a defendable total, then stayed unbeaten while Pakistan’s chase repeatedly threatened to collapse around him.
The scorecard says 49 not out.
The match situation says rescue act.
What Pakistan Did Well
Pakistan’s greatest success was adaptation.
Their original chase had been built around the top order. Fakhar disappeared immediately. Imam and Babar repaired the damage, then both fell to Nabi. Hafeez and Haris could not accelerate. Sarfaraz was run out.
The obvious batting plan had failed.
Pakistan therefore needed a different route.
Imad and Shadab found it.
Wahab then provided a burst the conventional batting order had not supplied.
With the ball, Pakistan also found wickets often enough to stop Afghanistan building a major partnership. Shaheen’s four wickets were critical, while Imad, Wahab and Shadab combined for another five.
It was the same kind of survival instinct Pakistan had displayed in other World Cup matches featured in this series, including Sarfaraz Ahmed’s six-catch performance against South Africa in Match 30 and Wahab Riaz’s all-round rescue against Zimbabwe in Match 31.
Different World Cups, similar Pakistani habit.
The straightforward win repeatedly becomes the difficult one.
Where Pakistan Nearly Lost It
The top order allowed Afghanistan’s spinners to dictate too much of the chase.
After the 72-run partnership between Imam and Babar, Pakistan should have possessed the platform to manage 228 comfortably.
Instead:
- Imam fell at 72.
- Babar fell at 81.
- Hafeez went at 121.
- Haris departed at 142.
- Sarfaraz was run out at 156.
Five wickets fell while only 84 runs were added.
The run-outs were particularly damaging because Afghanistan were already earning enough wickets through bowling pressure. Pakistan compounded the problem by giving away two more without requiring a wicket-taking delivery.
Against a stronger batting total, that pattern would probably have been fatal.
What Afghanistan Did Brilliantly
Afghanistan understood the conditions better than the raw total suggested.
Their spin attack was exceptional.
Nabi conceded 2.30 per over.
Mujeeb conceded 3.40.
Samiullah conceded 4.00.
Together, those three bowlers delivered 28 overs for only 89 runs.
That pressure forced Pakistan to keep taking risks against someone.
Rashid’s figures were more expensive, but he still removed Haris and remained difficult enough that Imad publicly acknowledged struggling to read him.
Afghanistan also refused to disappear after posting 227. They attacked from the first over and kept enough fielders around the bat to make Pakistan feel the target rather than simply calculate it.
The performance offered an early glimpse of the side that would later become a far more established force in global ODI cricket. TSE has followed that progression through stories such as Rashid Khan leading Afghanistan toward the 2027 ODI World Cup.
Where Afghanistan Lost the Match
It is tempting to reduce Afghanistan’s defeat to Gulbadin’s 18-run over.
That is too simple.
Hamid Hassan’s injury had removed a specialist seamer after only two overs. Afghanistan needed to find almost an entire bowling allocation elsewhere.
Their captain was dealing with a problem, not inventing one.
Still, the decision to bowl himself when Pakistan needed 46 from 30 gave Imad exactly the matchup he wanted.
The key distinction is tactical.
Afghanistan’s spinners had made Pakistan uncomfortable because the ball was gripping and the batters could not confidently manufacture boundaries.
The moment pace returned without the same level of control, Imad’s options expanded.
Afghanistan did not lose because one over was automatically indefensible.
They lost because that over changed the type of contest.
Pakistan were no longer required to solve the spin.
They could attack pace.
Imad recognized that immediately.
That is the hidden tactical reason Match 33 turned.
How the Match Changed Pakistan’s World Cup
Pakistan entered Headingley having revived their campaign with consecutive victories over South Africa and New Zealand.
Defeat to Afghanistan would have effectively ended the comeback.
Victory kept the semifinal race alive and temporarily pushed Pakistan into the top four. icc
They subsequently defeated Bangladesh at Lord’s and finished with four consecutive victories.
It still was not enough.
Pakistan finished level with New Zealand on 11 points but missed the semifinals on net run rate. The heavy opening defeat against West Indies ultimately remained damaging enough to separate the teams. icc
That retrospective context makes the Afghanistan game even more fascinating.
Pakistan survived a match they absolutely had to win.
Then discovered that survival alone could not repair everything that had happened earlier in the tournament.
What the Match Meant for Afghanistan
Afghanistan remained winless.
Yet the scoreboard alone is a poor measure of this performance.
A week earlier they had pushed India deep into the final over before losing by 11 runs.
Now they had taken Pakistan to within two deliveries of defeat.
The ICC later described the Pakistan game as the World Cup match Afghanistan came closest to winning and noted that their late mistakes had cost them an opportunity they had largely created themselves. icc
That distinction matters when viewing Afghanistan’s ODI development.
They were not yet consistently finishing matches against the established nations.
They were already learning how to control them.
Complete Match Scorecard
Complete figures are cross-checked against the archived match scorecard. CricketArchive
Afghanistan Batting: 227/9 in 50 Overs
| Batter | Dismissal | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rahmat Shah | c Babar Azam b Imad Wasim | 35 | 43 | 5 | 0 | 81.40 |
| Gulbadin Naib (c) | c Sarfaraz Ahmed b Shaheen Shah Afridi | 15 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 125.00 |
| Hashmatullah Shahidi | c Imad Wasim b Shaheen Shah Afridi | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Ikram Alikhil (wk) | c Mohammad Hafeez b Imad Wasim | 24 | 66 | 1 | 0 | 36.36 |
| Asghar Afghan | b Shadab Khan | 42 | 35 | 3 | 2 | 120.00 |
| Mohammad Nabi | c Mohammad Amir b Wahab Riaz | 16 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 48.48 |
| Najibullah Zadran | b Shaheen Shah Afridi | 42 | 54 | 6 | 0 | 77.78 |
| Samiullah Shinwari | Not out | 19 | 32 | 1 | 0 | 59.38 |
| Rashid Khan | c Fakhar Zaman b Shaheen Shah Afridi | 8 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 66.67 |
| Hamid Hassan | b Wahab Riaz | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Mujeeb Ur Rahman | Not out | 7 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 77.78 |
| Extras | 8 lb, 10 wides | 18 | ||||
| Total | 9 wickets, 50 overs | 227 |
Fall of wickets: 27/1 (Gulbadin Naib, 4.4), 27/2 (Hashmatullah Shahidi, 4.5), 57/3 (Rahmat Shah, 11.6), 121/4 (Asghar Afghan, 25.2), 125/5 (Ikram Alikhil, 26.6), 167/6 (Mohammad Nabi, 36.4), 202/7 (Najibullah Zadran, 44.4), 210/8 (Rashid Khan, 46.4), 219/9 (Hamid Hassan, 48.2).
Pakistan Bowling
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Economy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imad Wasim | 10 | 0 | 48 | 2 | 4.80 |
| Mohammad Amir | 10 | 1 | 41 | 0 | 4.10 |
| Shaheen Shah Afridi | 10 | 0 | 47 | 4 | 4.70 |
| Mohammad Hafeez | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 5.00 |
| Wahab Riaz | 8 | 0 | 29 | 2 | 3.62 |
| Shadab Khan | 10 | 0 | 44 | 1 | 4.40 |
Pakistan Batting: 230/7 in 49.4 Overs
| Batter | Dismissal | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fakhar Zaman | lbw b Mujeeb Ur Rahman | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Imam-ul-Haq | st Ikram Alikhil b Mohammad Nabi | 36 | 51 | 4 | 0 | 70.59 |
| Babar Azam | b Mohammad Nabi | 45 | 51 | 5 | 0 | 88.24 |
| Mohammad Hafeez | c Hashmatullah Shahidi b Mujeeb Ur Rahman | 19 | 35 | 1 | 0 | 54.29 |
| Haris Sohail | lbw b Rashid Khan | 27 | 57 | 2 | 0 | 47.37 |
| Sarfaraz Ahmed (c/wk) | run out (Najibullah Zadran/Ikram Alikhil) | 18 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 81.82 |
| Imad Wasim | Not out | 49 | 54 | 5 | 0 | 90.74 |
| Shadab Khan | run out (Gulbadin Naib/Ikram Alikhil) | 11 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 64.71 |
| Wahab Riaz | Not out | 15 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 166.67 |
| Mohammad Amir | Did not bat | |||||
| Shaheen Shah Afridi | Did not bat | |||||
| Extras | 1 bye, 4 leg byes, 5 wides | 10 | ||||
| Total | 7 wickets, 49.4 overs | 230 |
Fall of wickets: 0/1 (Fakhar Zaman, 0.2), 72/2 (Imam-ul-Haq, 15.6), 81/3 (Babar Azam, 17.2), 121/4 (Mohammad Hafeez, 29.1), 142/5 (Haris Sohail, 34.6), 156/6 (Sarfaraz Ahmed, 38.6), 206/7 (Shadab Khan, 46.4).
Afghanistan Bowling
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Economy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mujeeb Ur Rahman | 10 | 1 | 34 | 2 | 3.40 |
| Hamid Hassan | 2 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 6.50 |
| Gulbadin Naib | 9.4 | 0 | 73 | 0 | 7.55 |
| Mohammad Nabi | 10 | 0 | 23 | 2 | 2.30 |
| Rashid Khan | 10 | 0 | 50 | 1 | 5.00 |
| Samiullah Shinwari | 8 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 4.00 |
The Match in Seven Turning Points
1. Shaheen Takes Two in Two
Gulbadin and Hashmatullah disappeared from consecutive balls, changing Afghanistan’s start from aggressive to vulnerable at 27/2.
2. Asghar Afghan Counterattacks
His 42 from 35 prevented Pakistan from settling into complete bowling control and pushed Afghanistan beyond 120 before the fourth wicket fell.
3. Mujeeb Removes Fakhar Immediately
Pakistan were 0/1 from the second ball of their chase. The target of 228 suddenly had a different feel.
4. Nabi Removes Imam and Babar
Pakistan went from 72/1 to 81/3, losing both set batters in eight deliveries.
5. Sarfaraz Is Run Out at 156/6
Afghanistan were suddenly into Pakistan’s lower order with 72 still needed.
6. Gulbadin’s Return Costs 18
Pakistan needed 46 from five overs. Afghanistan changed from spin to medium pace. Imad attacked, and the equation changed in six balls.
7. Imad Finishes the Chase
Pakistan needed six from the final over. Imad’s boundary on the fourth delivery sealed a three-wicket victory.
Why the Final Margin Does Not Explain This Match
Pakistan won by three wickets.
That sounds relatively comfortable.
It was anything but.
Pakistan did not take control of the chase and gradually finish it. They repeatedly lost control, rebuilt it and lost it again.
Afghanistan did not dominate through one spectacular spell. They squeezed Pakistan through different phases until the required rate finally created a tactical decision their opponents could exploit.
And Imad did not win by overpowering Afghanistan’s best bowlers.
He won by understanding whom not to attack.
That is perhaps the most interesting part of Match 33.
ODI cricket is often described through aggression, strike rates and boundary counts.
Sometimes the winning skill is patience.
Imad survived Afghanistan’s strongest weapon long enough for a weaker matchup to arrive.
When it did, he did not hesitate.
That six-over transition from suffocation to opportunity is why Pakistan vs Afghanistan at Headingley deserves its place in A Celebration of 5000 ODIs.
For more historical cricket reporting and analysis, readers can continue through The Sports Encounter Cricket Hub or revisit Match 32, where Carlos Brathwaite came within one swing of beating New Zealand.
Continue A Celebration of 5000 ODIs
A Celebration of 5000 ODIsA Celebration of 5000 ODIs Match 31: Wahab Riaz Turns Pakistan’s 4/2 Crisis Into a World Cup Lifeline Against Zimbabwe
A Celebration of 5000 ODIsA Celebration of 5000 ODIs Match 30: Sarfaraz’s Six Catches Help Pakistan Survive De Villiers’ Defiance
A Celebration of 5000 ODIsA Celebration of 5000 ODIs Match 29: Elliott’s Six Breaks New Zealand’s Semifinal Barrier and South African HeartsFrequently Asked Questions
Who won Pakistan vs Afghanistan at the 2019 Cricket World Cup?
Pakistan won by three wickets with two balls remaining, reaching 230/7 after Afghanistan had scored 227/9. CricketArchive
Who was Player of the Match?
Imad Wasim was named Player of the Match after taking 2/48 and scoring an unbeaten 49 from 54 balls. CricketArchive
How many runs did Pakistan need from the final five overs?
Pakistan needed 46 runs from 30 balls. Afghanistan had Pakistan under severe pressure before Gulbadin Naib’s return to the attack changed the momentum. Wisden
How many runs did Gulbadin Naib concede?
Gulbadin finished with 0/73 from 9.4 overs. His return to the attack late in the chase included an 18-run over that became the decisive tactical turning point. CricketArchive
Why did Gulbadin Naib bowl at the death?
Afghanistan had lost seamer Hamid Hassan to a hamstring problem after he bowled only two overs. Gulbadin later identified Hassan’s injury as a major reason Afghanistan’s death-bowling options became limited. Wisden
What were Shaheen Afridi’s figures?
Shaheen took 4/47 from ten overs. The ICC reported that he became the first teenager to take four wickets in a men’s Cricket World Cup match. icc
How well did Afghanistan’s spinners bowl?
Mohammad Nabi took 2/23, Mujeeb Ur Rahman 2/34, Rashid Khan 1/50 and Samiullah Shinwari conceded only 32 from eight overs. Their control was the primary reason a target of 228 reached the final over. CricketArchive
Did Pakistan reach the 2019 World Cup semifinals?
No. Pakistan eventually finished level with New Zealand on 11 points but missed the semifinals because of net run rate. icc
Why is Pakistan vs Afghanistan 2019 included in A Celebration of 5000 ODIs?
Pakistan’s World Cup campaign was at risk at 156/6, Afghanistan were close to their first tournament victory, Pakistan needed 46 from the final five overs, and Imad Wasim transformed one late tactical opening into a victory with two balls remaining.
