Afghanistan beat Pakistan by 8 wickets on Monday to register their first-ever ODI win over the side.© Twitter
Afghanistan put on a superb batting and bowling show on Monday to stun Pakistan by eight wickets in the Cricket World Cup 2023 match at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. Afghanistan hunted down a target of 283 runs in 49 overs against the bowling line-up that had the likes of Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf and Hasan Ali. Pakistan had made 282 for 7 in their 50 overs with 74 from skipper Babar Azam and 58 from opener Abdullah Shafique but the total did not prove tough enough for a clinical Afghanistan.
#NewCoverPhoto | #AfghanAtalan | #CWC23 | #AFGvPAK | #WarzaMaidanGata pic.twitter.com/DtNRfWQn8t
— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) October 24, 2023
Here are the stars of Afghanistan’s historic win over Pakistan –
Ibrahim Zadran: A total of 282 for 7 at the half-time during the match seemed enough for Pakistan to win the game, but Zadran’s 87 off 113 balls put the chasing side in the driver’s seat. By the time he was dismissed, Afghanistan (190/2 in 33.3 overs) held an edge over Pakistan.
Noor Ahmad: On a track where star spinners like Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan remained wicketless with the former also leaking nearly 7 runs per over, left-arm wrist spinner Noor Ahmad returned figures of 3 of 49 in his quota of 10 overs. He claimed the important wickets of Babar Azam (74), Mohammad Rizwan (8) and Abdullah Shafique (58).
Rahmanullah Gurbaz: The opener was another key player in Afghanistan’s historic win over Pakistan. He scored 65 runs off 53 balls, providing a solid start to his side in the chase. A strike rate of 122.64 from Gurbaz meant that the pressure of required run rate was never there for Afghanistan. Zadran and Gurbaz stitched 130 runs for the opening wicket.
Rahmat Shah: Afghanistan lost two wickets for 190 runs and it seemed that Pakistan might bounce back in the game. At that point in time, Afghanistan needed 93 runs off the remaining 99 balls. Number three batter Rahmat understood his responsibilities well and stitched an unbeaten stand with new batter Hashmatullah Shahidi to take the chasing team home. Rahmat scored 77 not out off 84 balls while Shahidi also contributed with an unbeaten 48 off 45.
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