A crucial match for the ongoing one-off tournaments. Pakistan will be in search of their third consecutive win in the tournament, while Afghanistan will try to hold the momentum they achieved by defeating the United Arab Emirates in their previous game. Pakistan was the better side when they locked horns against Afghanistan on August 29; Pakistan won the match by 39 runs.

As of now, Salman Ali Agha and his boys performed far better than the UAE and Afghanistan. But Rashid Khan's Afghanistan has the potential to pull out a stunning win against Pakistan. For that, they have to show improvements in their batting. During their previous game against Pakistan, the batting lineup of Afghanistan bundled for only 143 runs against Pakistan's 182. Ahead of the upcoming Asia Cup 2025, none of the teams will desire to face a setback. 

Toss Update:

Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan won the toss and decided to bat first, as the surface can become slower like the previous few matches. On a slow, turning track, the second batting team can face difficulties against a quality bowling attack. 

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After winning the toss, Rashid Khan said, "Runs on the board in Sharjah are important, as it becomes a bit difficult to bat later on. The dew factor can be a concern later on, making it harder to grip the ball, but we just have to play good cricket. We are confident after the victory last night; we will try to adjust according to the conditions."

On the other side, Salman Ali Agha said, "We wanted to chase today, especially after seeing the heavy dew yesterday. Afghanistan has quality spinners, and their mystery bowlers are world-class, so we will need to be careful and play them smartly."

Playing XIs:

Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha (C), Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Haris (WK), Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, and Sufiyan Muqeem.

Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Karim Janat, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan (C), Mohammad Nabi, Allah Mohammad, Noor Ahmad, and Fazalhaq Farooqi.