In the current World Cup, the name of Afghanistan is a threat to the big teams. In their third match in the World Cup, Afghanistan defeated the reigning champions England by 69 runs. Afghanistan once again created history by defeating another big team Pakistan by 8 wickets in their fifth match today. And Pakistan got the taste of hat-trick defeat. Afghanistan have never beaten Pakistan seven times before in ODIs.
When Pakistan set Afghanistan a target of 283 in 50 overs after winning the toss and batting at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Monday, it looked like a mountain target. But today two Afghan openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran made this difficult task easy. Based on their innings, Afghanistan set a winning record by chasing the most runs in their history.
The pair of these two openers scored 130 runs in the opening pair with a half century. Which smooths their way to victory. After the departure of these two openers, Rahmat Shah’s unbeaten 77 runs and Hashmatullah Shahidi’s unbeaten 44 runs helped Afghanistan lose 2 wickets with 6 balls to spare.
Afghanistan’s two openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran started attacking the Pakistani bowlers from the start. They continued to see and hear.
The field umpire gave Ibrahim Zadran out in response to Hasan Alirak’s cut-behind appeal for the team’s 30 runs. And Ibrahim Zadran reviewed it. He was successful.
Then this pair attacked the Pakistani bowlers. Afghanistan scored 60 runs without losing any wicket in the first power play based on this pair. And crossed the team century in 15 overs.
In the meantime, this opener picked up his personal half century. Ibrahim Zadran scored 50 runs off 54 balls today. Which includes 8 fours. On the other hand, another opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz brought up his half-century off 38 balls. Which includes hitting 9 fours.
Shaheen Shah Afridi, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf, Usama Mir and Shadab Khan could not break this pair despite their efforts. This duo is becoming increasingly dangerous for Afghanistan.
Finally Shaheen Shah Afridi broke this pair. Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who scored 65 off Shaheen Afridi, was caught by Usama Mir at deep third man. Usama Mir took the catch with ease. As a result, Gurbaz returned to Sajghar with 65 runs. On his departure, the Afghan opening pair broke for 130 runs.
Ibrahim Zadran teamed up with Rahmat Shah after Gurbaz’s departure. 60 runs from this pair. This pair was broken by the departure of Ibrahim Zadran for the team’s 190 runs. Zadran, who raised hopes of a century, scored 87 runs off 113 balls and returned to Sajghar after falling prey to Shikar Ali.
After losing 2 wickets for 190 runs, Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi tied the pair. Rehmat Shah picked up a personal half-century in between.
Today he picked up a half century off 58 balls. Which includes 4 fours and a six. In the end, these two batsmen left the field with victory. Rahmat Shah remained unbeaten on 77 runs and Hashmatullah Shahidi remained unbeaten on 44 runs.
Earlier, the two openers Abdullah Shafiq and Imam-ul-Haq, who started the opening for Pakistan today, played carefully from the beginning. They were not giving any chance to the Afghan bowlers. Pakistan scored 56 runs without losing any wicket in the first power play based on this pair. But then there is a fall in rhythm. Opener Imam-ul-Haq returned to Sajghar with the team’s 56 runs. Imam Azmatullah Omarzai, who scored 17 runs off 22 balls, was caught by Naveen-ul-Haq and returned to the pavilion. Pakistan’s opening pair broke for 56 runs on his departure. After losing 1 wicket for 56 runs, Abdullah Shafiq formed a partnership with captain Babar Azam. Meanwhile, Shafiq picked up a personal half-century.
He scored 50 runs off 60 balls. Which includes 4 fours and 2 sixes. Based on this pair, Pakistan took the team’s century in 20 overs. But Abdullah Shafiq could not take his innings far despite picking up a personal half-century. He fell victim to LBW by Noor Ahmed. He scored 54 runs off 75 balls before getting out.
Mohammad Rizwan, who scored 46 runs in the previous match, could not stay at the crease for long after Shafiq. He gave a catch at short fine leg off the ball of Noor Ahmed. Mujeeb ur Rahman, who was standing, made no mistake in palming the catch when it went short fine. As a result, he returned with only 8 runs. After the departure of Rizwan, Babar Azam paired with Saud Shakeel. 43 runs came from this pair. This pair was broken by Saud Shakeel’s departure for the team’s 163 runs. Shakil Mohammad, who scored 25 runs off 34 balls, returned after being caught by Rashid Khan off Nabir. On his departure, Pakistan lost 4 wickets for 163 runs. Babar Azam paired with Shadab Khan after Shakil’s departure. In the meantime, Babar picked up a personal half-century. He scored 50 runs off 69 balls. Which includes hitting three fours.
But this pair could not go far. The pair broke up when Babar Azam returned to the pavilion as Noor Ahmed’s third victim. Babar, who raised hopes of a century, scored 74 runs off 92 balls and returned to Sajghar after handing over the catch to Mohammad Nabi at extra cover off Noor Ahmed. On his departure, Pakistan lost 5 wickets for 206 runs. Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed tied the pair after Babar’s departure. 73 runs came from this pair. This pair was broken by the departure of Iftikhar Ahmed for the team’s 279 runs. Iftikhar Ahmed, who scored 40 runs off 27 balls, was caught by Rashid Khan at deep extra cover off Naveen-ul-Haq and went back to Sajghar. In the end, Pakistan scored 282 runs after losing 7 wickets in the scheduled 50 overs.
For Afghanistan, Noor Ahmed took 3 wickets, Naveen-ul Haque 2 wickets, Mohammad Nabi 1 wicket and Azmatullah Omarzai 1 wicket.
23 October/NWB/ES