Pakistan ready to avenge defeat by Afghanistan tonight

Beaten and bruised in the first match, Pakistan will certainly bounce back and put up some hardball as it take on Afghanistan in the second T20I at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium tonight, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Afghanistan lead the three-match series by 1-0 while the last match will be played at the same venue on Monday. Today’s match will start at 9pm (PST).

Afghanistan surprised Pakistan as they defeated the greenshirts by six wickets in the first game of the three-match T20I series at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday last.

As Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat first, they could only manage to put a meagre 93-run target on board for Afghanistan, who chased down the target in 17.5 overs at the loss of four wickets.

Afghanistan will be looking to seal the ongoing series after they created history as they won the first T20I by six wickets to register their first-ever win over Pakistan across formats.

The Shadab Khan-led Pakistan managed to score just 92/9 in 20 overs while batting first in the absence of key players Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, and Mohammad Rizwan. 

Mohammad Nabi returned to international scenes after getting ignored for the UAE tour and made a big impact. He took two wickets for 12 and then top-scored with 38* off 38 to ensure an easy chase for Afghanistan. 

Afghanistan win the first T20I by six wickets.#AFGvPAK | #BackTheBoysInGreen pic.twitter.com/fWJtFaBzjQ

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) March 24, 2023

For Pakistan, young pacer Ishsanullah made an instant impact on his debut with two early wickets but it was not enough.

A bright start to Ihsanullah's career 🌟#AFGvPAK | #BackTheBoysInGreen pic.twitter.com/KNigx7AOOT

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) March 24, 2023

Speedster Ihsanullah reflects on his performance on T20I debut.#AFGvPAK | #BackTheBoysInGreen pic.twitter.com/xog2FmRBl9

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) March 24, 2023

   Pakistan are likely to include Shan Masood and Iftikhar Ahmed for the second T20I to add some experience in the batting order. But Afghanistan are likely to remain unchanged as a win will secure them a maiden series win over Pakistan.

The pitch at Sharjah Cricket Stadium has a balanced surface with an average first innings score of 141. Spinners dominated the first game as the pitch was a little slow and batters struggled for big shots in both innings. Teams batting first have won 22 of 40 T20Is here so the toss will make a big difference in the upcoming game.

Playing XIs
Pakistan:
Saim Ayub, Mohammad Haris (wk), Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood, Imad Wasim, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan (c), Faheem Ashraf, Naseem Shah, Zaman Khan, Ihsanullah

Afghanistan:
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Najibullah Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan (c), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazahaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq