Afghanistan defeats Pakistan in the World Cup by eight wickets

In the Cricket World Cup on Monday, Afghanistan stunned Pakistan by eight wickets with an outstanding batting and bowling performance.

Rahmat Shah (77 not out), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (65), and Ibrahim Zadran (87) helped Afghanistan reach 286-2 in 49 overs as they chased a 283-run mark.

With 74 from captain Babar Azam and 58 from opener Abdullah Shafique, Pakistan had made 282-7 in their 50 overs, but Afghanistan was able to crush Pakistan’s total with ease.

Afghanistan beat their previous best ODI chase of 274 against the UAE in Dubai in 2014 thanks to the captain Hashmatullah Shahidi’s 48 not out off 45 balls.

Eight days after shockingly defeating the defending champions England in Delhi, Afghanistan defeated Pakistan for the first time in eight OD Is.

Afghanistan overhaul the Pakistan total to garner their second #CWC23 win 👊#PAKvAFG 📝: https://t.co/3i10Bkie19 pic.twitter.com/OWFkhkJ6ex

— ICC Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) October 23, 2023

Shahidi remarked, “This victory tastes good. We chased in a really professional manner, and how we accomplished it will help us in our upcoming games.

“We are producing high-caliber cricket. We have always believed, and before the game, I told my team that I wanted to make the game historic for our nation and our people. We accomplished that yesterday against Pakistan and today against England.

Pakistan’s World Cup campaign is already in chaos after the loss, as they now have three losses in their last five games and a difficult match against South Africa on Friday at the same location.

In contrast, Afghanistan’s campaign has somewhat picked up steam with two victories in five games and a Sunday matchup in Pune against a struggling Sri Lanka.

“That hurt us a lot. We had a respectable sum. Our bowling isn’t good enough,” lamented Pakistan captain Azam.

For at least 15 minutes after the game ended, gunfire, cheering, and fireworks erupted in celebration of the victory throughout the Afghan capital of Kabul.

The triumph for Afghanistan comes at a time when the two neighbors’ political and diplomatic ties are fragile.

With openers Zadran and Gurbaz pushing their team to 100 in the 16th over, Pakistan’s fielding was shoddy as they let up simple boundaries.

Only a bad hit from Gurbaz off Shaheen Shah Afridi in the 22nd over, which broke the pair’s 130-run partnership, gave Pakistan their first wicket.

While Zadran scored 10 boundaries off 113 deliveries before giving a catch behind to Hasan Ali with 93 runs still needed, Gurbaz hit nine boundaries and a six in his 53-ball innings.

Afghani stability was ensured by Rahmat and Shahidi.

During his 84-ball spell at the crease, Rahmat smacked two sixes and five fours.

Shafique’s 75-ball 58 added to Azam’s 92-ball knock, and Iftikhar Ahmed and Shadab Khan each scored a significant 40 runs.

Afghanistan picked four slow bowlers on the spin-friendly Chidambaram Stadium surface, and the 18-year-old left-armer Noor Ahmad recorded a career-high 3-49 in his World Cup debut.

Shadab added a rapid 73 runs with Iftikhar for the sixth wicket as Pakistan took 61 off the last five overs, with Shadab falling off the last delivery.

Iftikhar cracked four sixes and two fours while Shadab’s innings featured a six and a four.

Pakistan enjoyed a strong start with a 56-run stand before Azmatullah Omarzai dismissed Imam-ul-Haq for 17 in the 11th over.

Ahmad struck his first blow when he trapped Shafique for 58 in the 23rd over. Shafique hit two sixes and five fours in his third half-century of the World Cup.

Mohammad Rizwan, Pakistan’s leading World Cup scorer, was subsequently dismissed by Ahmad when he was caught sweeping in his subsequent over, leaving Pakistan on 120-3.

Ahmad also defeated Azam as the Pakistani captain attempted to play a tennis-like shot to a delivery that appeared to be beyond his reach but instead smacked it straight to Mohammad Nabi at extra cover.

Along with Saud Shakeel’s 25 goals, Azam added 43.

despite pacer Naveen-ul-Haq grabbed 2-52, Afghan spinner Rashid Khan went wicketless in his 10 overs despite only allowing 41 runs.