Pakistan needed 228 for victory at Headingley against their neighours but fell to 81-3 and then 156-6 as Afghanistan threatened to spring a major surprise and record their first win of the tournament. 

When Pakistan's target crept up to 48 from 36 balls it looked like victory would be beyond them.

They regained the initiative, however, in the 46th over when Imad Wasim hit 18 runs off the bowling off Afghanistan's captain Gulbadin Naib.

Shadab Khan was then run out with 22 runs still needed for victory but Imad and Wahab Riaz maintained their composure.

When Wahab hit Pakistan's first six of the innings it bought the run rate down to a run a ball and victory was clinched with two balls to spare when Imad drove Gulbadin to the boundary for four.

The victory movers Pakistan above England into fourth place, meaning England will need to beat India tomorrow and New Zealand on Wednesday (July 3) to guarantee their place in the semi-finals of a tournament they entered as the favourites. 

Afghanistan had scored 227-9, recovering from 27-2 Shaheen Afridi took two wickets in two balls following the decision by Naib to bat after winning the toss. 

Asghar Afghan was Afghanistan's joint top scorer, hitting three fours and two sixes in his quickfire 42. 

Najibullah Zadran also scored 42 as Pakistan did well to restrict their opponents to a relatively small total with Shaheen finishing with 4-47.

The match had been marred by crowd violence between fans of the two countries.

Political relations between the South Asian neighbours have been marked by years of distrust and blame.

The incidents at Headingley were sparked by the flying of a banner over the ground reading: "Justice for Balochistan" - a reference to Pakistan's largest and poorest province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran and is rife with Islamist, separatist and sectarian insurgencies. 

The Pakistani military has been waging war on militants there since 2004, and security forces are frequently targeted.

Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed was grateful, however, after the match for the support for his side.

"Thank you all the fans, they cheered every ball," he said. 

"It is a great win for us on not an easy pitch. 

"We know it was not an easy target. 

"Their bowlers used the conditions very well. 

"Everyone chipped in, it was good team work. 

"We all know that it is not easy to win our last four games, we go match by match. 

"We will all be watching India v England tomorrow."

In today's other match, defending champions Australia beat New Zealand by 86 runs at Lord's in London. 

After scoring 243-9, Australia bowled out New Zealand for 157. 

New Zealand had appeared favourites after limiting Australia to a total that looked like they could chase down.

The highlight was Trent Boult finishing off the Australian innings with a hat-trick.

But New Zealand never got close to their target as Mitchell Starc took 5-26 to lift his wicket tally for the tournament to 24.

Australia had already booked their semi-final place with victory against England on Tuesday (June 25), but New Zealand's second defeat in a row after going unbeaten for the first six games of the tournament leaves them still uncertain of reaching the knockout stage.