SHARJAH: Pakistan laid down a marker ahead of the Asia Cup as spinner Mohammad Nawaz took a hat-trick in a 75-run win over Afghanistan in their T20 tri-series final in Sharjah on Sunday.

Left-arm spinner Nawaz picked up 5-19 -- his best figures in T20 Internationals -- as Pakistan skittled Afghanistan out for 66 in 15.5 overs while defending a modest 142-run target on a tricky pitch at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan took three wickets to help restrict Pakistan to 141-8, with Fakhar Zaman top-scoring with 27.

Nawaz dismissed Darwish Rasooli and Azmatullah Omarzai off successive deliveries for ducks and then removed Ibrahim Zadran for nine off the first ball of his next over to complete a hat-trick.

Nawaz, 31, became the third Pakistani bowler after Fah­­eem Ashraf and Mohammad Hasnain to achieve a hat-trick in T20Is.

Nawaz, who was later named player-of-the-match, said bowling with a specific plan did the job for Pakistan.

“The plan was very simple. We knew the pitch was difficult to bat on and we felt we had enough runs. Our focus was on disciplined bowling, sticking to line and length and it worked. After my first two balls, I noticed there was spin, so I adjusted the pace accordingly. I bowled within the stumps, keeping the pads in view,” Nawaz said in his post-match comments.

Rashid (17) and Sediqullah Atal (13) were the only batters to reach double figures as Afghanistan recorded their second lowest total in T20Is, behind their 56 all out against South Africa in last year’s World Cup semi-finals.

Earlier, Pakistan, who won the toss and batted, also struggled against spin.

Nawaz made a 21-ball 25 with two sixes while skipper Salman Ali Agha laboured to a 27-ball 24.

Fakhar added 49 for the second wicket with Saim Ayub (17) after opener Sahibzada Farhan fell off the third ball of the match for a duck.

Rashid dismissed Fakhar in his first over and then accounted for Hasan Nawaz (15) and Salman, but only after his opposite number struck him for two sixes.

Salman reckoned the total Pakistan had posted was tough to chase in the given conditions.

“It was the kind of wicket where even 130-140 was always going to be challenging and once we got there, we knew it would be tough for them,” the skipper said.

The captain had special praise for spinner Nawaz.

“Since Nawaz’s comeback, he’s been outstanding, performing brilliantly in all departments. For me, he’s the guy I can rely on in tough situations. People often ask us — former cricketers, fans on social media — why we don’t play two spinners. We select based on conditions and today it worked.

He continued, “We wanted to prepare in a way that helps us for the Asia Cup and we’ve done that. We’ve been doing really well since the Bangladesh home series. Finally, we’re in very good shape and fully prepared for the Asia Cup.”

Rashid said losing five wickets in powerplay damaged Afghanistan.

“I feel like that was a chaseable total but we didn’t play the brand of cricket we wanted. Losing five wickets inside the powerplay made it really hard to bounce back,” Rashid said.

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN:

Sahibzada Farhan b Farooqi 0

Saim Ayub c Rashid b Noor 17

Fakhar Zaman lbw b Rashid 27

Salman Ali Agha c Ghazanfar b Rashid 24

Hasan Nawaz c Rasooli b Rashid 15

Mohammad Haris b Noor 2

Mohammad Nawaz c Ibrahim b Farooqi 25

Faheem Ashraf c Gurbaz b Ghazanfar 15

Shaheen Shah Afridi not out 2

Sufiyan Muqeem not out 0

EXTRAS (B-2, LB-5, W-7) 14

TOTAL (for eight wickets, 20 overs) 141

DID NOT BAT: Abrar Ahmed

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-0 (Sahibzada), 2-49 (Saim), 3-51 (Fakhar), 4-69 (Hasan), 5-72 (Haris), 6-112 (Salman), 7-130 (Faheem), 8-136 (Nawaz)

BOWLING: Farooqi 3-0-19-2 (1w), Omarzai 1-0-5-0, Ghazanfar 4-0-27-1 (1w), Nabi 4-0-28-0 (1w), Noor 4-0-17-2 (3w), Rashid 4-0-38-3

AFGHANISTAN:

Rahmanullah Gurbaz c Sahibzada b Shaheen 5

Sediqullah Atal c Faheem b Abrar 13

Ibrahim Zadran st Haris b Nawaz 9

Darwish Rasooli lbw b Nawaz 0

Azmatullah Omarzai c Haris b Nawaz 0

Mohammad Nabi c Salman b Abrar 3

Karim Janat lbw b Nawaz 0

Rashid Khan c Salman b Nawaz 17

Noor Ahmad c Abrar b Sufiyan 3

AM Ghazanfar c Abrar b Sufiyan 7

Fazalhaq Farooqi not out 2

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-3, W-3) 7

TOTAL (all out, 15.5 overs) 66

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-7 (Gurbaz), 2-28 (Sediqullah), 3-29 (Rasooli), 4-29 (Omarzai), 5-32 (Ibrahim), 6-32 (Karim), 7-46 (Nabi), 8-55 (Rashid), 9-57 (Noor)

BOWLING: Shaheen 2-0-7-1 (1w), Abrar 4-0-17-2 (2w), Saim 3-0-10-0, Nawaz 4-1-19-5, Sufiyan 2.5-0-9-2

RESULT: Pakistan won by 75 runs.

PLAYER-OF-THE-MATCH: Mohammad Nawaz

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2025