The final of the UAE T20I tri-series is here, and it will be a battle between the South Asian teams that will take place on Sunday. The two teams have had some great battles in this series. Pakistan had beaten the Afghans in the opening game of the series on the back of a brilliant knock by Pakistan skipper Salman Agha and a fantastic spell by Haris Rauf as they ensured the Green Shirts won the game by a 39-run margin. However, the second game saw the Afghans make a comeback as a half-century from Ibrahim Zadran and the spin trio of Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, and Noor Ahmad helped them to an 18-run win.
These two results ensured that both teams ended up with the same number of points, with Pakistan just about finishing on top of the points table with a better net run rate. This game will not only determine the champions of the Tri series, but will also decide which team will be breaking the tie, as it was a 1-1 draw between them in the league stage. It will be interesting to see which team will finally finish the story in the much-awaited final in the United Arab Emirates.
Form Guide
The great performances in the T20I tri-series have improved the recent form of both teams, who have won four out of their last five games in the format
Pakistan: W L W W W
Afghanistan: W W W L W
Pak vs Afg Head-to-Head in T20s
The battle between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been neck-to-neck, with the Green Shirts just about holding a lead against the Afghans
Pakistan 5 – 4 Afghanistan
Pitch and Weather
Despite the small boundary dimensions at the Sharjah Cricket Ground, the surface has got trickier for the batters as the game has progressed. The dry nature of the pitch assists the pacers with some uneven bounce and offers the spinners a lot of grip and turn. Batting first is ideal on this surface, since all the games so far have been won by the team defending a score.
The expected temperature at Sharjah is 35 degrees Celsius, and the conditions should be clear throughout the entire game.
Team News
Pakistan are expected to go unchanged in the upcoming T20I tri-series final against the Afghans
Afghanistan, on the other hand, might bring back three of their main team players in Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, and Fazalhaq Farooqi in place of Mohammad Ishaque, Mujeeb ur Rahman, and Abdullah Ahmadzai for the championship match.
Pakistan Probable XI: Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha(c), Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Haris(wk), Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Salman Mirza, Abrar Ahmed.
Afghanistan Probable XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Karim Janat, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan (c), Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad Malik.
Broadcasting Platforms
The final of the UAE T20I tri-series final between Pakistan and Afghanistan will be digitally streamed on the Fancode app and website at 8:30 PM.