Pakistan A sweep series with hard-fought win

Pakistan A 278 for 6 (Ahmed 61*, Nasim 50*, Nabi 2-46) beat Afghanistan 274 for 9 (Noor Ali 51, Shah 3-29) by four wickets

Pakistan A completed a clean sweep of the three-match limited overs series against Afghanistan, with a hard-fought four-wicket win in Faisalabad.

Afghanistan got off to a reasonable start after choosing to bat, with opener Noor Ali Zadran holding up one end with a steady half-century. Pakistan A's bowlers managed wickets at regular intervals, though, and had the visitors in trouble at 187 for 6 in the 42nd over. The lower order came good, with Mohammad Nabi, Karim Sadiq and Samiullah Shenwari scoring 87 off the last 53 deliveries of the innings to carry their side to 274. Legspinner Yasir Shah was the pick of the bowlers, taking three wickets in a miserly spell.

Pakistan A's chase began in similar fashion to the Afghanistan innings, with a number of top order cameos taking the side to 120 for 3. Opener Sharjeel Khan's 44 came off 31 balls, making sure Pakistan A were well placed after 20 overs. But Afghanistan pulled things back with two wickets off four balls, reducing the hosts to 120 for 5 in the 22nd. The lower-middle order offered tough resistance after that, slowly rebuilding the chase. A patient 63-run stand between Sarfraz Ahmed and Sohail Tanvir was followed by a quick fire, unbeaten 95-run partnership between Sarfraz and Saad Nasim, which carried their side home with 11 balls to spare.