Haris Rauf’s five-wicket burst sends Afghanistan packing for 59 in pursuit of 202

Fiery pacer Haris Rauf led a pace assault on Afghanistan with a career-best five-wicket haul to give Pakistan a thumping 142-run victory in the first one-day international in Sri Lanka’s Hambantota on Tuesday.
Rauf’s shattering 5-18 in 6.2 overs forced Afghanistan to their second-lowest ODI totals of 59 in a staggering 19.2 overs after Pakistan were bowled out for 201 in 47.1 overs.
The victory gives Pakistan a 1-0 lead in the three-match series — the first bilateral between the two nations — with the remaining matches in Colombo on Thursday and Saturday. Rauf carried on the demolition act after fellow fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi had removed Ibrahim Zadran (nought) and Rahmat Shah (nought) off successive deliveries in the third over. It had become 3-4 when Naseem Shah dismissed Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi, also without scoring, before passing the baton to Rauf to complete the rout.
Rauf grabbed wickets of Ikram Alikhil (four), top scorer Rahmanullah Gurbaz (18), Mohammad Nabi (seven), Rashid Khan (nought) and Mujeeb Ur Rahman (four) to complete the rout. Rauf’s previous best of 4-65 was against England at Birmingham in 2021. Shaheen finished with 2-9.
Teams: Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi
Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ikram Alikhil, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman…Source: dawn.com