Sharjah, September 7, 2025: Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat first in the tri-nation T20I series final against Afghanistan at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
The two sides have built a close rivalry in the shortest format, having met nine times in T20Is. Pakistan lead the head-to-head with five wins, while Afghanistan trail narrowly with four victories. Their only bilateral series, played in 2023, went Afghanistan’s way 2-1.
Pakistan enter the final with strong recent form, having won four of their last five T20Is. Afghanistan, meanwhile, carry momentum from three consecutive wins.
In this series, both teams have already claimed one victory each. Pakistan won the opening clash by 39 runs, powered by skipper Salman Ali Agha’s 53 off 36 balls, before bowling out Afghanistan for 143. But Afghanistan hit back in the second meeting, as Ibrahim Zadran (65) and Sediqullah Atal (64) guided them to 169/5. Pakistan faltered in the chase, finishing at 151/9 despite Haris Rauf’s late cameo of 34 off 16.
Playing XIs:
Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Ali Agha (c), Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Sufiyan Muqeem.
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Karim Janat, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan (c), Mohammad Nabi, AM Ghazanfar, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
