Afghanistan, who had a dream World Cup defeating teams like England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, won their fourth World Cup victory by defeating the Netherlands. In their seventh match at the World Cup, they defeated the Netherlands by a huge margin of 7 wickets. As a result of this victory, they survived in the race of semis.
Afghanistan lost 2 wickets for 55 runs after going down to bat against the target of 180 runs given by the Dutch. Then Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi. Both these batsmen picked up a pair of half-centuries today. Rahmat Shah returned to 52 runs but Hashmatullah Shahidi remained unbeaten on 56 runs. With a pair of half-centuries and Azmatullah Omarzai’s unbeaten 31 runs in both these two batters, the Afghans reached the port of victory after losing three wickets with 111 balls to spare.
Chasing the target, the two Afghan openers played carefully from the start. He took 27 runs in 5 overs. But this opening pair broke in the next over. Rahmanullah Gurbaz passed away after being victimized by Logan Van Beek. Scored 10 runs off 11 balls before getting out. On his departure, the opening pair of Afghans broke for 27 runs.
Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmat Shah formed a partnership after the first wicket went for 27 runs. But Ibrahim Zadran’s departure broke the team’s 55 runs. Zadran, who scored 20 runs off 34 balls, was bowled by Roelof van der Merwere and took the path of Sajghar.
After losing 2 for 55 runs, Rahmat Shah formed a partnership with Hashmatullah Shahid. In the meantime, Rehmat Shah picked up a personal half-century. Today against the Dutch he picked up a half-century off 47 balls.
However, despite picking up a half-century, he could not take his innings further. Shakib Zulfikar’s 52 off 54 balls led the way for the pavilion.
After Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi also scored a half-century against the Dutch today. He picked up a half-century off 59 balls. In the end, he left the field with victory along with Azmatullah Omarzai. He remained unbeaten on 56 runs and Azmatullah Omarzai remained unbeaten on 31 runs.
Earlier, the Dutch won the toss and lost the first wicket by just 3 runs at the Ikana Stadium in Lucknow. Wesley Baresi, who scored 1 run off 4 balls, went back to the dugout after being lbw by Mujeeb ur Rahman. On his departure, the opening pair of the Dutch broke by 3 runs.
After losing the first wicket for 3 runs, Max O’Dowd and Colin Ackerman led the team. The Dutch were turning around with this pair. But the duo was broken when Max O’Dowd, who was on the verge of a personal half-century, was run out after scoring 42 off 40 balls.
Colin Ackerman also returned after being run out by way of Max O’Dowd. He made 29 from 35 balls before getting out.
Scott Edwards also returned after being run out by this batter. He also returned to the ball after the departure of Colin Ackerman. On his departure, the Dutch lost 4 wickets for 92 runs.
Bas de Lied returned to the team’s 97 runs, increasing the danger of the Dutch. He returned to Mohammad Nabi after scoring only 3 runs off 6 balls. After losing 5 wickets for 97 runs, Sybrand Engelbrecht tried to keep the lead of the team by keeping one end. On the other side, there was a procession.
Standing against the tide, he brought up a personal half-century against the Afghans today. He picked up his half century today off 74 balls. After picking up a half-century, he returned to Sajghar on 58 runs. The Dutch innings could not go far after his departure. In the end they were all out for 179 runs after playing 46 overs 3 balls.
(November 03/NBW)