"Afghanistan owning Pakistan is nothing new be it on the field or off the field"- Twitter reacts as Pakistan loses 1st T20 against Afghanistan

Afghanistan scripted a brilliant all-round victory in the first T20I against Pakistan with six wickets and 13 balls to spare at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday (24 March).

Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Pakistan, playing without their leading batsmen Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, were reduced to 41-5 in the eighth over. They were eventually restricted to a meager 97-9 in their 20 overs. Fazalhaq Farooqi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi led the way for the Afghans with two wickets apiece.

In reply, Afghanistan started well, with the openers putting on 23 before a brief stutter reduced them to 45/4 in the 10th over. However, senior pros Mohammad Nabi and Najibullah Zadran put on a defiant 5th wicket partnership of 53 as the Afghans cruised home by six wickets in the 18th over.

Afghanistan have thus taken a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series, with the next two matches also to be played in Sharjah.

Despite Pakistan being without key players like Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shan Masood, the team was expected to put on a big total with Sharjah having smaller boundaries. However, they were left scratching their hands as the team suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the Afghans.

Fans on Twitter hailed Afghanistan for its spirited performance while also trolling Pakistan for its lackluster showing. Here are some of the reactions:

"Thirty-eight on this wicket can feel like a hundred" - Mohammad Nabi on his Man-of-the-Match performance against Pakistan

Afghanistan stunned Pakistan by six wickets in the first match of the three-match T20I series, and Mohammad Nabi was the wrecker-in-chief with both bat and ball. He followed up a brilliant spell of 2/12 in three overs with a well-calculated innings of 38* on a difficult batting wicket. The performance earned him the Man-of-the-Match award, and Nabi later spoke on the difficulty of the conditions.

During the post-match presentation, the delighted allrounder spoke about his innings and the team's impressive showing:

Congrats to everyone. Was a tough score to chase in these conditions. As a bowling unit, we wanted to keep them under 100. With the bat, I wanted to take responsibility and close the game. Most of the guys in our squad are playing big leagues, some have been here in the UAE for 15 days. So we were set. Thirty eight on this wicket can feel like a hundred.

Captain Rashid Khan was also proud of his team's performance but stressed the importance of top-order improvement as the series progresses.

During the post-match presentation, Rashid said:

Pleasure to win as we've always lost against them, with small margins too. Happy for the win, hope to continue the momentum. Wearing Afghanistan colours and leading the team in a win is a proud achievement. (On the pitch) We never know the wicket as it looks and plays differently. Mindset was to go and see how it was playing and adjust accordingly. (Areas of improvement) The top order. We need to improve not just for this series but as we get to the world cup.

This was Afghanistan's first win in a T20I against Pakistan, as the team had lost their previous three encounters against their Asian neighbors. The two teams will lock horns in the second T20 in Sharjah on March 26.