Afghanistan's ageless all-rounder Mohammad Nabi came to his side's rescue in their final Group B encounter against Sri Lanka to help the T20 World Cup semi-finalists post a competitive score of 169 runs on the board. Nabi smashed the joint-fastest fifty by an Afghan batter off just 20 balls and ended up scoring a 22-ball 60. Nabi aggregated 31 runs off the final over bowled by Dunith Wellalage, hitting five sixes in as many balls, as he scripted Asia Cup history on Thursday.
Nabi's 31 is the most runs scored by a batter in one over in the Asia Cup (ODI and T20) as he went past Babar Hayat, who scored 27 runs against Zeeshan Maqsood of Hong Kong during the 2016 Men's T20 Asia Cup. In the ODI version of the Asia Cup, Sanath Jayasuriya holds the record, having taken India's RP Singh to cleaners, scoring 26 runs during the 2008 edition of the tournament.
Most runs scored by a batter in one over in Asia Cup history
31 - Mohammad Nabi (AFG) vs Dunith Wellalage (SL) - Abu Dhabi, 2025 (T20)
27 - Babar Hayat (HK) vs Zeeshan Maqsood (OMA) - Fatullah, 2016 (T20)
26 - Sanath Jayasuriya (SL) vs RP Singh (IND) - Karachi, 2008 (ODI)
26 - Suryakumar Yadav (IND) vs Haroon Arshad (HK) - Dubai, 2022 (T20)
24 - Khushdil Shah (PAK) vs Aizaz Khan (HK) - Sharjah, 2022 (T20)
Nabi gave his side something to bowl at, while also completing 6,000 runs in international cricket. Afghanistan got two Sri Lankan wickets in the powerplay too to get things going and stay in the hunt. However, Kusal Mendis's anchor act and Kamindu Mendis's quickfire cameo at the end was enough for Sri Lanka to chase down 170 and stay unbeaten in the tournament thus far.
Afghanistan stood eliminated after losses to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and while they both qualified for the next round from Group B.
