Salman Agha, Haris Rauf star in tri-series opener

Skipper Salman Agha's unbeaten fifty and a four-wicket haul from Haris Rauf helped Pakistan make a winning start in the T20I tri-series in Sharjah. Afghanistan did a decent job in the first half of both the innings before floundering to eventually fall short comfortably by 39 runs.

Sahibzada Farhan got off to a flying start with a couple of sixes early in his innings before his blitz was cut short by Azmatullah Omarzai. Pakistan finished with 54 in the powerplay but it could have been a lot more if not for a miserly opening spell from comeback man Mujeeb Ur Rahman. Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi then carried forward the good work by striking in successive overs to put Pakistan under the pump.

At the halfway mark, Pakistan made only 76 and shortly after, they lost Hasan Nawaz as well who miscued one to get caught near long on. However, from 83/4, Pakistan staged an excellent recovery on the back of their skipper's rearguard effort. Agha got going with a couple of boundaries off Fareed Ahmad and then followed it up with back-to-back sixes off Rashid in the very next over. It was then Mohammad Nawaz's turn to deal in sixes as Pakistan staged a commendable recovery. Mujeeb getting rid of Nawaz did peg them back a bit but a few handy cameos down the order pushed Pakistan past the 180-run mark with Agha remaining unbeaten on 53 until the end.

Shaheen Afridi then came up with a trademark inswinging yorker to get rid of Ibrahim Zadran to land an early blow. Afghanistan were able to guide their run rate past six only in the fifth over of the chase when Rahmanullah Gurbaz hit Faheem Ashraf for successive fours. A six in the final ball of the powerplay ensured Afghanistan breached 50 before Sediqullah Atal put Pakistan under the pump with a couple of sixes. Even though Gurbaz was cleaned up while attempting to sweep, Afghanistan were still fairly well placed at 85/2 by the halfway point.

Pakistan then took full control when Haris Rauf picked two wickets in a single over to dent Afghanistan. Rauf's decision to keep persisting with the offcutter paid dividends as Atal mistimed one to depart for 23 before Karim Janat hit one to perfection straight to deep backward square leg. Pakistan then made it three wickets in five balls when Sufiyan Muqeem completed an excellent catch off his own bowling to stun Afghanistan.

Things then went from bad to worse as Omarzai and Nabi departed in successive overs as well to leave Afghanistan reeling at 97/7. Losing five wickets for the addition of just four runs was the final nail in Afghanistan's coffin. Rashid put on a show by slamming five sixes, including three in an over from Rauf but that only managed to bring down the margin of loss. Pakistan will now take on hosts UAE at the same venue in less than 24 hours.

Brief scores: Pakistan 182/7 in 20 overs (Salman Agha 53*; Fareed Ahmad 2/47) beat Afghanistan 143 in 19.5 overs (Rashid Khan 39; Haris Rauf 4/31, Shaheen Afridi 2/21) by39 runs