Nawaz rips through Afghanistan with a historic spell
A match that looked like a scrap to 150 turned into a one-man demolition. Mohammad Nawaz, the left-arm spinner Pakistan have leaned on for balance and control, tore through Afghanistan with a five-for and a landmark Mohammad Nawaz hat-trick in the Sharjah tri-series final on September 7, 2025. Pakistan, who posted what felt like a middling 141-8, romped to a 75-run win after Afghanistan folded for 66 in 15.5 overs.
The record arrived with theatre. Nawaz became the first Pakistani men's spinner to claim a T20I hat-trick, and just the third Pakistani overall to do it, joining Faheem Ashraf and Mohammad Hasnain. The sequence started in the sixth over: Darwish Rasooli was pinned leg-before on the fifth ball, and Azmatullah Omarzai nicked off first ball to give Nawaz two in two. He sealed the hat-trick with his first ball of the next over, drawing Ibrahim Zadran out for a sharp stumping on 9.
He wasn't done. Three balls later in the same over, Karim Janat fell to make it a double-wicket maiden. Nawaz came back in the 13th to snare Afghan captain Rashid Khan, completing a mesmeric 5-19—his best in T20Is—on a surface that rewarded anyone brave enough to slow it down and aim at the stumps.
The scorecard told a blunt story. Only Rashid Khan (17) and Sediqullah Atal (13) reached double figures. The rest were squeezed by pace off the ball, skiddy arm-balls, and the constant threat of the stumps. Afghanistan’s 66 was their second-lowest total in T20Is, better only than the 56 they managed in last year’s World Cup semi-final against South Africa.
Pakistan’s new-ball plan set the tone. Rather than rely on seam up front, they threw spin at the powerplay. Abrar Ahmed’s mystery, Saim Ayub’s part-time off-spin, and Nawaz’s control crowded the hitting arcs and starved Afghanistan of pace. The field shivered in close, singles dried up, and the batters were forced into high-risk swings earlier than they wanted. By the time seam returned, the chase had unraveled.
It was classic Sharjah: tacky under lights, grip for the spinners, and enough variable bounce to test technique. On such nights, the calculation changes—130 becomes a test, 140 a chase with potholes. Pakistan read that quicker. Nawaz attacked the stumps, slowed his pace, and used angles. Against right-handers, he dragged length from middle to off, bringing lbw and bowled into play. When batters moved at him, he shortened up just enough to invite the stumping. Nothing was flashy; it was relentless.
The dismissal sequence showed how well he mapped match-ups. Rasooli’s lbw came off a trajectory that held and straightened. Omarzai’s edge came from a quicker, wider line, the kind you nick when you expect spin that never arrives. Zadran’s stumping exposed the temptation to attack first ball; Nawaz served a fraction slower, wider of the crease, and the feet left the ground before the hands found the ball. Karim Janat, trying to break the spell, fell into the same web.
Behind that, Pakistan’s discipline held. The catching was clean and the ring field tight. Once Afghanistan lost four in a hurry, the rest of the innings felt like triage. Singles weren’t on. Boundaries needed big swings across the line. Pressure did the rest.
A modest total, a bold plan, and what it means next
There was nothing imposing about 141-8. Fakhar Zaman’s 27 was the top score. Pakistan needed cameos and a bit of steel to reach even that. Rashid Khan led a tidy Afghan bowling effort, pinching three wickets and keeping strike batters honest. On a surface like this, line and length were enough for long stretches. The chase, on paper, was manageable.
But the pitch had a second half. Under lights, the ball sat in the surface longer. Slower balls held. Grips bit. It was the perfect night to frontload spin and hide pace until the ball got older. Pakistan executed that plan in the powerplay, then doubled down through the middle—exactly the window where Afghanistan usually surge with hard down-the-ground hitting.
For Pakistan, this was more than a trophy lift. It underlined a formula they can trust at regional events hosted on dry tracks: two frontline spinners plus support overs, a keeper quick enough to finish stumpings, and fielders who close gaps to turn 1s into dots. Nawaz’s spell also changes selection math. He has often been picked as a utility all-rounder; this was a specialist’s performance. It gives the think-tank license to lean into spin-heavy XIs without worrying about the death overs becoming a scramble.
Abrar Ahmed’s quiet role was just as useful. Starting with spin against openers who like pace is a risk; get it wrong and you feed them length to free their arms. Pakistan didn’t flinch. The first three overs set a field that challenged Afghanistan to take singles to long-on and long-off instead of swinging big through midwicket. That control meant Nawaz could hunt wickets, not merely contain.
Afghanistan will look at this final and see a pattern they must break. When they’re forced to chase modest totals on slow surfaces, they get trapped between caution and intent. Their power hitters are most dangerous when they can pick length early and hit straight. Here, they were dragged across the line and made to play to the bigger part of the ground. Once the top order went, the middle couldn’t reset. A pragmatic tweak—more strike rotation against the new ball and waiting an over longer before the release shot—would have bought time.
The batting collapse also masked an otherwise respectable bowling outing. Rashid’s three-for kept Pakistan well below the par many had in mind at the toss. The support cast kept their nerve at the death, which can be chaos in Sharjah with its small pockets and low skidders. If there’s a silver lining, it’s that the attack looked tournament-ready. They can defend 150 on similar pitches. The batting unit, though, needs a method for scores in the 130s—games where the risk-reward pendulum swings faster than usual.
Zoom out and the numbers add weight. This was only the third T20I hat-trick by a Pakistani man, and the first by a spinner from that group. Afghanistan’s 66, their second-lowest, came despite a short chase and a deep batting order. Pakistan won by 75 while defending 141—an old-school T20 win secured by grip, guile, and a willingness to bowl to the field.
It also hits the calendar at a handy moment. With the Asia Cup ahead and more cricket in the Gulf and subcontinent, this is the kind of blueprint teams try to bottle: pick brave match-ups in the powerplay, accept that four overs of real risk might fetch you a clutch of wickets, and back your spinners to close the door once it’s ajar. Pakistan did all of that. On a ground where many chase demons by swinging harder, they beat the pitch with patience and a plan.
As for Nawaz, the headline says enough. Five wickets, a hat-trick that arrived across two overs, and a reminder that left-arm orthodox can still run a game in a format addicted to pace and ramps. The skill is in the subtlety: the speed off the surface, the wrist angle for drift, the trajectory that keeps lbw alive. Get those right and even 142 looks like a mountain. Afghanistan tried to sprint up it. Nawaz turned it into a cliff.