T20 World Cup 2021: Asif Ali leaves cricketing world spellbound with his imperious finishing skills

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Dubai, October 29: Pakistan batter Asif Ali displayed his big-hitting prowess as he hammered four monstrous sixes in the penultimate over bowled by Karim Janat to give Pakistan third successive win in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2021 here at Dubai International Stadium.

Chasing a target of 148, Pakistan reached home in style with six balls to spare as Asif unleashed his beast mode to amass 24 runs and took guided his team home. Pakistan had lost the wickets of captain Babar Azam and senior batsman Shoaib Malik in quick succession as Afghanistan scripted a late comeback in the game.

Pakistan looked in a spot of bother with two quick dismissals in the death overs. With 24 required from the last 12 balls, the right-handed batsman - who was the star for his team in the match against New Zealand - smashed four maximums to send another strong statement with his tremendous finishing skills.

He scored runs 25* off 7 deliveries at an incredible strike rate of 357.1 while taking his team home. It is the third-fastest in T20 WC after Dwayne Smith (414.3 SR, 29 off 7) vs Bangladesh in 2007 and Yuvraj Singh (362.5 SR, 58 off 16) vs England in 2007.

For his finishing skills, Ali was adjudged the player of the match and the right-handed batsman also gave a peek into his thought process during the crunch situations. He even claimed that he would have scored 25 runs in the last six deliveries if needed.

"I would like to congratulate the Pakistan team and all our fans. I was confident of finishing it off from this end and that's what I told Shoaib Malik before he got out. I look at the situation of the match, and I target the bowlers accordingly. I was talking to Shoaib when I walked in to bat and I told him that I was confident enough of getting 20-25 in one over against Karim Janat, which I did," he added further.

Ali's sheer hits left the cricketing fraternity impressed as they praised him for his explosive batting effort against Afghanistan. Here's who said what on Twitter:

Ali's finishing touches in two games in a row ticked another check box for Pakistan i.e. their middle-order batting in the death overs, thus making the Men in Green's contention for the title stronger.

Earlier in the day, Pakistan captain Babar Azam continued his good form with the bat as he slammed his career's 22nd T20I fifty and helped his team win the third win on the trot in the ongoing tournament.