22nd league match of the current World Cup series. With this, Afghanistan defeated Pakistan for the first time in the history of ODI cricket. It is noteworthy that Afghanistan defeated the England team in the match held in Delhi last week in the current World Cup cricket series.
The Pakistan team won the toss and elected to bat first in this match which was held at the Chennai-Chepakkam Cricket Ground. The team scored 282 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in 50 overs. Babar Azam, the captain of the team, scored 74 runs off 92 balls. Abdullah Shafiq scored 58 runs, Shatab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed scored 40 runs each. Noor Ahmed took the maximum 3 wickets for Afghanistan. He is the youngest player playing in the current World Cup series. He took the wickets of Shafeeq, Rizwan and Babar Azam.
Afghanistan chased down the target of 283 runs to win. There was an expectation that Afghanistan would successfully chase these runs at the Chennai ground. All the four top order batsmen of the team played well and secured the victory.
Quality batting: Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Sadran combined to give a good start. Both put on a partnership of 130 runs. Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored 65 runs off 53 balls. Ibrahim Zadran then put on a 60-run partnership with Rahmat Shah. Ibrahim Zadran scored 87 runs off 113 balls. Then the team’s captain Hashmadullah Shaidi took the field.
Hashmadullah Shaidi and Rahmat Shah combined to take the game to the end. They set up a partnership of 96 runs and gave Afghanistan a win. Ibrahim Zadran won the man of the match award. After the victory, the Afghan players roamed the Chennai stadium and thanked the spectators.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran also got off to a great start. He also put on a partnership of 130 runs. Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored 65 runs off 53 balls. Ibrahim Zadran then put on a 60-run partnership with Rahmat Shah. Ibrahim Zadran scored 87 runs off 113 balls. Then the team’s captain Hashmadullah Shaidi took the field.
Hashmadullah Shaidi and Rahmat Shah combined to take the game to the end. They set up a partnership of 96 runs and gave Afghanistan a win. Ibrahim Zadran won the man of the match award. After the victory, the Afghan players roamed the Chennai stadium and thanked the spectator
Pakistan cricket team captain Babar Azam has said that the defeat against the Afghanistan team hurts them.
In the current World Cup series, Afghanistan and Pakistan teams have won 2 out of 5 matches. In terms of run rate, Pakistan is ranked 5th and Afghanistan is ranked 6th
This failure gives us pain – Pak. Captain Babar Azam. We batted well. We set a good target. But our bowling was not good. We failed to take wickets in the middle overs. We failed to block the boundaries. So we gave away runs. The spinners were not bowling the right length
The Afghan team performed well in batting, That’s why they won. Our bowling and fielding was not great. We will try to perform well in the next match,” said Babar Azam
In the ongoing World Cup series, Pakistan have suffered a hat-trick of defeats in three consecutive matches against India, Australia and Afghanistan. Earlier, it had defeated Netherlands and Sri Lanka. Pakistan will play against South Africa next Friday.
