Mohammad Nabi scored 65 runs from 32 balls but it came to nothing as Afghanistan fell narrowly short of eclipsing Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup. Sri Lanka won by two runs in Lahore to clinch the fourth and final spot in Super 4 stage of the competition.
Due to an inferior net run rate compared to Sri Lanka, Afghanistan needed to chase down a 292-run target in 37.1 overs and Nabi put them on the cusp of a famous win by smashing the fastest half-century by an Afghanistan player in ODIs.
That equation was brought down to 15 runs required from seven balls. To bridge the gap further, Rashid Khan struck three boundaries off spinner Dunith Wellalage in the 37th over.
The equation after 37 overs read: Afghanistan needed three runs from one ball with two wickets in hand to qualify for the Super 4s of the Asia Cup.
However, there was heartbreak for Afghanistan as Mujeeb Ur Rahman holed out at long-on to see their chances go up in smoke.
Afghanistan, though, did have the opportunity of qualifying despite the ninth wicket falling and missing the primary target of finishing off the contest in 37.1 overs.
The NRR calculations said Afghanistan could have qualified above Sri Lanka if they got to 293 after 37.2 overs, 294 after 37.3, 295 after 37.5, 296 after 38 overs, or 297 after 38.1.
They could have achieved these targets if No. 11 batter Fazalhaq Farooqi had hit a four off the second ball of the 38th over; a six off the third, fourth or fifth ball; or, maybe better yet, taken a single to allow Rashid to try and finish the game off.
Instead, Farooqi blocked two balls from de Silva, including a full-toss, for dots before being trapped leg before by Dhananjaya de Silva. It appeared he looked to defend and hand the strike back to Rashid to kill the game off in the next over.
It didn’t work out and Afghanistan, as a result, finish the Asia Cup without a win from either of their two games.
During the post-match press conference, Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott said they were not aware of NRR permutations beyond the need to reach the target in 37.1 overs.
“We were never communicated those calculations,” he said. “All we were communicated was we needed to win in 37.1 overs. We weren’t told what the overs in which we could get 295 or 297. [That we could win in] 38.1 overs was never communicated to us.”
Trott felt the Afghanistan bowlers could have done better in both the Asia Cup games. Against Bangladesh, in their opener, Afghanistan had gone for 334 runs.
“I don’t think there’s one reason we lost the game,” Trott said. “There are areas of the game we could have done better [in] and that goes for today’s game and the one against Bangladesh. We got some things horribly wrong in a few areas and it’s cost us. It’d be nice if we’d bowled them out a bit cheaper. But it wasn’t to be.”
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