The Afghanistan cricket team have produced a huge shocker in China today as they beat Pakistan cricket team in the Asian Games 2023 Semi-Final, thus qualify for the gold medal final match, atleast guaranteed themselves a silver medal.
Earlier today, the Indian cricket team got the better of Bangladesh cricket team in the first Semi-Final of the Asian Games 2023. Chasing a target of 97 runs in 20 overs, the Men in Blue won the match with 9 wickets still remaining.
However, in the 2nd Semi-Final, the Men in Green have disappointed their fans as the Pakistan cricket team lost their match against Afghanistan and failed to qualify for the gold medal match that would have set up a India vs Pakistan match.
Batting first, Pakistan only scored 115 runs and lost all 10 wickets. Omair Yousuf was the highest scorer for Pakistan who scored 24 runs. For Afghanistan, Fareed Ahmed took 3 wickets while 2 wickets each for Qais Ahmed and Zahir Khan.
With the bat, it is former Afghanistan senior team captain Gulbadin Naib who became the hero for the Afghanistan team. Coming lower down the order, Gulbadin scored 26 runs in 19 balls and took Afghanistan over the line to book a place in the final. However, it was Noor Ali Zadran who was the top scorer for the Afghans as he scored 39 runs in 33 balls.
With that win, the Afghanistan team will now face Ruturaj Gaikwad led Indian cricket team in the final for the gold medal. The winning team will receive the gold medal while the losing team will receive the silver medal. Meanwhile, both Pakistan and Bangladesh will play each other for the 3rd position but both the teams will get bronze medal. The final match will be played from 11:30 AM Indian Standard Time (IST).
