A combination of poor decisions on the field, freezing at the death if you will, and Pakistan finding new personnel to take them over the line saw Afghanistan succumb to another defeat. Yet again, agonisingly, it was a case of so close, yet so far for the plucky Afghans after near-misses against Sri Lanka and India.
Of course, the focus will be on skipper Gulbadin Naib’s expensive over when his spinners had done so well to put them in the driver’s seat. But what about Pakistan’s batting? After poor displays against Australia and India, there were changes. The middle-order coming good played a significant role during their wins against South Africa and New Zealand.
The same old problems reared its ugly head on Saturday. When rotating strike and keeping wickets in hand would have seen them through, some bizarre decisions on the field from Pakistan nearly saw Afghanistan script one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history.
Traditionally good bowlers of spin, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi had spun a web around the 1992 champions.
Imad Wasim, the Player of the Match, looked all at sea during the early part of his innings and admitted that he could do precious little at the time. Afghanistan were strengthening their grip on the contest.
“Rashid [Khan] was bowling brilliantly. I couldn’t pick him to be honest,” Wasim said. “I just hung in there and decided to play fifty overs. The wicket was turning square and they’ve got world-class spinners.”
It was not as they had not been under the pump against South Africa and New Zealand either. In both games, they lost wickets in clumps and it was one big partnership that took them over the line. Importantly, they had Haris Sohail and Babar Azam batting deep, mixing caution and aggression to good effect.
It looked like the script would be similar in Leeds as well. After the early wicket of Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam batted sensibly and kept the scoreboard ticking. Pakistan were in control when yet another mini-collapse threatened to derail their entire innings.
Mohammad Hafeez, yet again culpable of throwing his wicket away to an irresponsible shot, and Haris Sohail painfully laboured along and the runs were hard to come by. Sarfaraz Ahmed also threw his wicket away trying to go for a second run that was never there; deeper in the game, Shadab Khan was also culpable of committing the same mistake.
In the end, it came down to one over. Imad Wasim, struggling with cramps and the spinners, targeted Naib. Eighteen came from from the 46th over and a useful hand from a crocked Wahab Riaz swung the match Pakistan’s way in the matter of two overs. And the middle-order might just have a telling say against Bangladesh in what might just be a virtual quarter-final.
A far cry from the pre-tournament prediction of playing on flat batting wickets, recent games have witnessed dry surfaces with spinners playing a big part in proceedings. Bangladesh’s bowling – at least in the pace department – is no match for the Pakistanis. But the Tigers do have spinners who can cause damage. Their batsmen have regularly registered big totals and Shakib Al Hasan is on a mission to make the tournament his own.
And Pakistan’s hopes of dramatically sealing a berth in the last-four might come down to that. Bangladesh might be less forgiving as opponents and since the 2015 World Cup, can make a legitimate case for being the second best team in Asia.
But Pakistan live to fight another day, rising from the debris in a manner only they can. They find new heroes and play like men possessed with their backs against the wall. But will spirit alone be enough? Bet against the men in green at your own peril. They face an equally thrilling outfit in green next.