Afghanistan and Pakistan locked horns today (September 2) in the fourth match of the ongoing UAE Tri-nation series 2025, which also includes Oman. Notably, the tournament acts as a dress rehearsal for all three teams ahead of the upcoming Asia Cup 2025, slated to begin from September 9.
Pakistan came into the contest unbeaten so far in the series with two wins from two games while Afghanistan suffered a loss against the Men in Green in the opener before defeating UAE in their previous encounter.
However, Pakistan were dealt their first loss today after the Rashid Khan-led side secured a confident 18-run win. In the process, now both teams have same points after three games but Pakistan still maintains the top spot owing to superior run-rate.
| Teams | Matches | Wins | Losses | Points | No Result | NRR |
| Pakistan | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | +0.867 |
| Afghanistan | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | +0.283 |
| United Arab Emirates | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | -1.725 |
Let’s take a look at the key takeaways from the AFG vs PAK 4th T20I.
The Afghanistan top 3 of Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sediqullah Atal and Ibrahim Zadran pack incredible power and are tasked with scoring the bulk of the team’s runs. They delivered once again as Zadran (65 off 45 balls) and Atal (64 off 45 balls) slammed respective fifties to stitch a crucial century-plus stand and build the foundation for a late flourish.
In the previous game too against UAE, both the batters hit fifties. As for Gurbaz, he started the series on a strong note with a 38(27) but failed to get going in the next two games with scores of 7 and 8. Going into the Asia Cup 2025, the Afghanistan management will be happy with how the top order has looked.
Pakistan all-rounder Faheem Ashraf, who had gone wicketless so far in the tournament, ended up registering his career-best figures in the match after finishing with a spell of 4/27. The 31-year-old, who made his T20I debut in 2017, has now raced to 46 wickets from 60 matches at an average of 26.32.
Courtesy of Ashraf’s heroics, Pakistan were able to curb Afghanistan to 169/5 despite conceding a 100-plus stand for the second wicket between Sediqullah Atal and Ibrahim Zadran.
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Afghanistan also handed 19-year-old spin sensation Allah Ghazanfar his T20I debut in the match. Ghazanfar replaced Mujeeb Ur Rahman in the playing XI, who has been unimpressive so far with just one wicket in two games.
The youngster, however, did not have a memorable debut as he went wicketless in his three overs and leaked 24 runs at an economy of 8.0.
The veteran Afghan all-rounder also achieved a rare feat and is only the second cricketer to reach the milestone. With his two scalps in the match, Nabi followed Bangladesh stalwart Shakib Al Hasan to score 2000-plus runs and take 100-plus wickets in the shortest format of the game.
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