Afghanistan beat Pakistan by 8 wickets (AP Image)
Rahmat Shah and skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi held their nerves and took their team over the line as Afghanistan chased down the 283-run target in 49 overs.
Afghanistan staged a big upset in the ODI World Cup match on Monday by defeating Pakistan by 8 wickets at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. In a thrilling game of cricket, Rahmat Shah and skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi held their nerves and took their team over the line as Afghanistan chased down the 283-run target in 49 overs.
It was Pakistan’s third defeat on a trot as they failed to match the intensity, especially with the ball and in the field.
PAK vs AFG Highlights ODI World Cup 2023
Skipper Shahidi hit the winning runs as Afghanistan beat Pakistan for the first time in ODIs. With the loss, Pakistan’s chances of qualifying for the semifinals got slimmer as they have three matches out of five thus far.
It was also Afghanistan’s highest successful chase in ODI cricket. Before Monday’s clash, their highest successful ODI chase was the 274 they achieved against the United Arab Emirates in Dubai nine years ago.
Chasing the 283-run target, Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz set the platform for the Afghans with a solid 130-run stand for the opening wicket. Ibrahim, who was struggling with form before the match, scored a brilliant 87 runs off 113 balls which was laced with 10 fours. While Gurbaz continued his golden patch with the bat as he hit 53-ball 65 runs.
Rahmat (77*) and Shahidi (48*) held their ground strong after the openers’ departure as they shared an unbeaten 96-run stand for the third wicket to take their team over the line. Rahmat hit 5 fours and two sixes, while Shahidi smashed four boundaries.
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Shaheen Shah Afridi and Hasan Ali were the only wicket-takers for Pakistan as it was a below-par performance by the bowling unit in the thrilling clash.
Earlier, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam hit a stylish half-century to guide his team to a fighting 282-7 on a tricky Chennai surface.
Azam’s 92-ball 74 was ably supported by opener Abdullah Shafique’s 75-ball 58 while Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed then scored a valuable 40 runs apiece.
On a spin-friendly Chidambaram Stadium pitch, Afghanistan fielded four slow bowlers with 18-year-old left-armer Noor Ahmad grabbing a career best 3-49 on his World Cup debut.
Shadab added a rapid 73 runs with Iftikhar for the sixth wicket as Pakistan added 61 in the last five overs, with Shadab falling off the last delivery.
Iftikhar cracked four sixes and two boundaries while Shadab’s innings featured a six and a four.
Noor spun the web on his World Cup debut to take big wickets of Babar, Rizwan and Shafique as Pakistan failed to cross the 300-run mark.
