Pakistan restrict Afghanistan to 137-8

SHARJAH: Pakistan pacers Junaid Khan and Sohail Tanveer restricted Afghanistan to 137 for eight in the only Twenty20 International here at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi won the toss and batted first but his batsmen could not make a big score despite their aggressive approach.

Junaid finished with three for 24 and Sohail claimed two for 11 while Shahid Afridi, Zulfiqar Babar and Bilawal Bhatti took one wicket each.

The main scorers for Afghanistan were Najibullah Zadran (38) and Mirwais Ashraf (28).

This is for the first time that the two neighboring countries are playing a T20 International against each other. The teams had played an ODI at the same venue in February 2012.

Left-handed batsman Sharjeel Khan made his international debut for Pakistan while left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar came in the side as off-break bowler Saeed Ajmal is resting.