Team India crashed out of the race for the Asia Cup final after Pakistan defeated Afghanistan by one wicket in a thrilling Super 4 match on Wednesday.
The result meant that India and Afghanistan are not ready for the final to be played on Sunday as they have not won two matches. Pakistan and Sri Lanka qualified for the title match with four points each.
After the loss against Sri Lanka, India’s fortunes ran out of their hands and with Pakistan snatching away the win against Afghanistan in the final over in the Super 4 match, all hope was lost which could have gone either way.
India looked ignorant in the Super 4 stage after victories over arch-rivals Pakistan and Hong Kong in the group matches. They lost to Pakistan by five wickets and then went on to lose by six wickets in a close match against Sri Lanka.
Despite the defeat, India still had a mathematical chance of qualifying for Sunday’s final if Afghanistan beat Pakistan on Wednesday. Besides this, India also had to do Afghanistan a favor by beating Afghanistan by a huge margin on Thursday and Sri Lanka by beating Pakistan on Friday.
Invited to bat, Afghanistan scored 129 for six with Ibrahim Zadran making 35 off 37 balls.
Chasing the target with four balls to spare, Pakistan made 131 for 9 in 19.2 overs.
For Pakistan, Shadab Khan top-scored with 36 while Iftikhar Ahmed scored 30 runs.
For Afghanistan, Fareed Ahmed and Fazlhaq Farooqui took three wickets each while Rashid Khan took two wickets.
Brief Scores:
Afghanistan: 129 for 6 in 20 overs (Ibrahim Zadran 35; Haris Rauf 2/26).
Pakistan: 131 for 9 in 19.2 overs (Shadab Khan 36, Iftikhar Ahmed 30; Fazlhaq Farooqui 3/31, Farid Ahmed 3/31, Rashid Khan 2/25).
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