At five wickets down with 125 required off 79 balls, Pakistan were teetering on the edge of yet another batting collapse when Arafat Minhas walked in to bat in the final of the One-Day International (ODI) tri-nation cricket series against Sri Lanka. An expectant home crowd in Lahore was on tenterhooks as the 21-year-old all-rounder began his batting partnership with Hasan Nawaz under the floodlights of the Gaddafi Stadium on Saturday. Minhas, who had gone wicketless in Sri Lanka’s innings, showed few signs of the pressure mounting on the young batting pair and began the repair job.
Within a few overs, the run chase swayed back in Pakistan’s favour but the final remained tense. With the hosts needing 39 runs from 27 balls, Sri Lanka’s Dasun Shanaka bowled a delivery at length, angling the ball into Minhas. Unnerved by the occasion and his own lack of experience, the batter swung his bat across the line and sent the ball soaring over midwicket for six to ignite the crowd and rekindle lost hope.
Following this defining moment of his innings, Arafat coolly went on to hit four more sixes, finish with 61 runs off 31 balls, help Pakistan clinch the trophy and bag himself the player of the series award. He ended the series with nine wickets and 149 runs, including two half-centuries. Commentators on the host broadcast ran out of superlatives for the promising all-rounder, who admitted that he “enjoyed the pressure” of the final run-chase and tried to remain calm.
After scoring 59 off 58 balls to help Pakistan recover from 81-4 and post 302-9, Minhas took six wickets for 40 runs as England were bowled out for 215, handing Pakistan an 87-run win. England were at 91 without losing a wicket before Arafat dismantled their batting order. Among his victims was swashbuckling batter Harry Brook, who was bowled for five by a delivery that turned past his attempted defensive shot and hit the stumps.
The England captain was left stunned at the crease and in the post-match media talk. I didn’t know,” Brook said after the match. More plaudits poured in as Minhas showed his all-round skills on the field.
Mike Hesson wants all-round cricketers and he’s found one in Arafat Minhas,” former England captain Nasser Hussain said during the broadcast. The performance made him the third Pakistani to score a half-century and take at least five wickets in a men’s ODI after Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq. On his ODI debut against Australia in May, Arafat took 5-32, becoming the first Pakistani to claim a five-wicket haul on debut, as well as winning the player of the series award.
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