29JUNE2019 STATE OBSERVER

Afghanistan won the toss and opted to bat first against Pakistan in the 36th match of the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup clash at the Headingley, Leeds on Saturday.Here are the live updates:# WICKET! Shaheen Shah Afridi struck twice to remove Gulbadin Naib (15) and Hashmatullah Shahidi (0) cheaply. While the Afghanistan skipper was caught behind the wicket by skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed, Hashmatullah was taken by Imad Wasim at mid-off. Afghanistan 31/2 (5 overs)# An expensive over from Mohammad Amir as he conceded eight runs to Afghanistan. Gulbadin firmly pushed the first delivery wide of mid-off for four runs before Rahmat pulled the fourth delivery high over midwicket to add another boundary in Afghanistan’s account. Afghanistan 17/0 (4 overs) # Four runs off the last over. The Afghanistan skipper drove the last delivery of the over wide of mid-off for a boundary. Afghanistan 9/0  (3 overs)# Mohammad Amir came to bowl the second over and he bowled a terrific maiden over. Rahmat Shah (4) and Gulbadin (1) are currently batting at the crease. Afghanistan 5/0 (2 overs)# Five runs off the first over. Rahmat Shah got off the mark by pushing the second delivery through to long-on for a single, while Imad Wasim too opened his account with one run by clipping the fourth ball to deep square leg. Afghanistan 5/0 (1 over)# Rahmat Shah and Gulbadin Naib to open the innings for Afghanistan. Imad Wasim begins the proceedings for Pakistan. # The two sides have walked down the crease for their national anthems. Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq,  Fakhar Zaman,  Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez,  Haris Sohail,  Sarfaraz Ahmed (capt & wk),  Imad Wasim,  Shadab Khan,  Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Shaheen AfridiAfghanistan: Gulbadin Naib (capt),  Rahmat Shah,  Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan,  Samiullah Shinwari,  Mohammad Nabi,  Najibullah Zadran,  Ikram Alikhil (wk),  Rashid Khan,  Hamid Hassan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman# Afghanistan win toss, opt to bat first against Pakistan!# The toss is all set to take place in a few minutes.After clinching two back-to-back victories, Pakistan will look to keep themselves in contention of making into the semi-finals of the 2019 ICC World Cup with a big win over minnows Afghanistan at Headingley, Leeds on Saturday.After clinching two back-to-back victories, Pakistan will look to keep themselves in contention of making into the semi-finals of the 2019 ICC World Cup with a big win over minnows Afghanistan at Headingley, Leeds on Saturday.Pakistan, who slumped to an 89-run defeat at the hands of arch-rivals India, bounce back strongly to register back-to-back victories against South Africa and New Zealand to keep their semi-final hopes alive.The Sarfaraz Ahmed-led side are currently standing at the sixth spot with three wins from seven matches they have played so far.A win against Afghanistan on Saturday will bring them closer to the semi-final spot.Afghanistan, on the other hand, are already out of contention of sealing the last-four berth. However, the Gulbadin Naib-led side will play for pride and look to seal their first win of the tournament when they lock horns with Pakistan.Here are the two squads:Pakistan: Sarfaraz Ahmed (c, wk), Asif Ali, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Imam-ul-Haq, Shadab Khan, Shoaib Malik, Wahab Riaz, Haris Sohail, Imad Wasim, Fakhar ZamanAfghanistan: Gulbadin Naib (c), Noor Ali Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah (wk), Asghar Afghan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Aftab Alam, Hamid Hassan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Ikram Ali Khil