Monitoring Desk
CHENNAI: Afghanistan defeated Pakistan by eight wickets to win their second match of the World Cup 2023 at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.
Afghanistan chased down the target of 283 runs in 49th over with eight wickets in hand.
Afghanistan off to a flier as their opening batsmen put up 130 runs in 21 overs.
Earlier, Pakistan set 283 runs target for Afghanistan to win the important match of the World Cup.
Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first. Captain Babar Azam remained the top scorer with 74 runs. Abdullah Shafique made 56 runs while Iftikhar Ahmed scored quick 40 runs.
Shadab Khan replaced Mohammad Nawaz, who was said to be suffering from fever.
Pre-match coverage
A bright start for Pakistan has been dulled by back-to-back losses but they now have an opportunity to reignite their semi-final hopes when they are going to meet familiar foes Afghanistan.
Pakistan made light work of Netherlands and Sri Lanka for a strong start to their ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 campaign but have since fallen short in tougher tests against India and Australia.
The back-to-back losses leave Pakistan with little margin for error as they chase the six victories likely needed to secure passage to the knockout stage of the Cricket World Cup.
Afghanistan come at the right time for a Pakistan outfit needing to find form quickly, with an unblemished 7-0 record in their previous ODI clashes sure to boost their confidence.
Pakistan have brushed aside Afghanistan in almost all of those matches, though were pushed all the way when the teams met in a 50-over encounter just two months ago.
Afghanistan amassed 300 in that match in Hambantota as openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran put Pakistan to the sword and compiled 157 for the first wicket.
An assured 91 from Imam-ul-Haq steered Pakistan toward victory but it was only sealed with one wicket and one ball remaining.
Gurbaz made 151 in that close contest and has since starred on the big stage with a quickfire 80 against England that set up Afghanistan’s rousing victory at the Cricket World Cup.
Pakistan will need to be wary of the same openers putting Afghanistan on the path toward another shock win, though spinners Rashid Khan and Mujeeb ur Rahman also loom large on a match-up with much on the line.
Shaheen Afridi led the resistance against a rampant Australia outfit to reveal how crucial he will be through the rest of the tournament to Pakistan hopes of progressing to the semi-finals.
The 23-year-old overcame a relatively slow start to the Cricket World Cup, and reportedly illness on the eve of the clash with Australia, but stepped up to take 5/54 even with Pakistan on the ropes after many early blows.
Those figures pushed Afridi to nine scalps for the tournament to be among the leading wicket-takers even with some room left for improvement.
The left-arm quick can strike fear in batters with his express pace and will face a gripping battle with the Afghanistan openers that tend to have a huge say on their team’s hopes.
Afridi is only just starting to hit his straps in India but with another commanding performance should be ready to launch into bigger – and, Pakistan will hope, more important – tests to come.
Squads
Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim.
Afghanistan squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman, Naveen ul Haq.
