On Monday, October 23, Pakistan and Afghanistan competed in a tantalizing match in Chennai’s venerable M.A. Chidambaram Stadium. While the target set by the Pakistani batsmen first appeared to be a challenge, the Afghan batsmen paved their way to pull off one of the biggest upsets in ODI World Cup history, securing a decisive victory by eight wickets.
After winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Babar Azam and company got off to a strong start. Under pressure, skipper Azam also played a captain’s knock. However, the Men in Green were only able to reach 282/7 after 50 overs thanks to the decisive knocks of Iftikhar Ahmed and Shadab Khan. The spinners from Afghanistan were proficient with the bat and controlled the flow of runs. In the end, Hashmatullah Shahidi’s soldiers encountered no issues at all during the pursuit.
The key talking points from the game are as follows:
1. Noor Ahmad excels on her ODI World Cup debut
Noor Ahmad, the youngest player in this ODI World Cup, had a standout performance as he swept through the Pakistani batters. Everyone was thrilled by his performance when he returned with 3/49 in his ten overs. The other spinner also gave him great compliments, which allowed the Afghans to apply more pressure on the opposition.
2. Gurbaz-Zadran’s improbable first stand
Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahimullah Zadran, the Afghan openers, quickly dismantled the opposing bowlers when the chase got underway. The pair amassed 60 runs during the powerplay, which put further pressure on the Men in Green. Before Gurbaz was caught for 65 by Shaheen Shah Afridi, they went on to add 130 runs for the first wicket.
3. Rahmat Shah keeps his cool as Afghanistan returns
Afridi was pushed for another wicket after the first one fell, but Rahmat Shah, who was at third base, made sure the pursuit didn’t falter. He first assisted Zadran, who eventually scored 87 runs off 113 balls. He then teamed up with captain Shahidi for an unbroken 96-run stand. Shah eventually managed to remain unbeaten on 77 and continued to play a key role in the group’s second tournament triumph.
Who Said What
Ibrahim Zadran, Player of the Match: I wanted to go out there with a positive mind and positive intent, and I did it. We (Gurbaz and himself) have played a lot of cricket with each other, we have good communication while running between the wickets as we have been playing together since under-16 days. The way Gurbaz supported me (in that opening partnershijp) – that helped me and we got the momentum in our favour. I am feeling great for myself and my country.
Babar Azam (Losing skipper): This hurts us. We had a good total. In the bowling, we weren’t up to the mark as we are not taking wickets in the middle overs. If you are not good in even one department, then you’ll lose the game. We didn’t stop boundaries and gave away runs, that cost us. Bowling – we started well, in the middle overs, we needed wickets but we couldn’t take any.
All credit to Afghanistan the way they played in all three departments. That’s why they won. We are not playing good cricket in bowling and fielding. We’ll try our best in the next match. We didn’t hit the lengths in the middle overs, especially our spinners. We couldn’t put pressure on the batters.
Hashmatullah Shahidi (Winning skipper): This win tastes nice. The way we chased was very professional. Looking forward for the other games. The way we chased today, we’ll do it again. We have been playing quality cricket, the belief was there when we played the Asia Cup as well. First was England, today Pakistan, looking forward to the other games. We’ll try to play positive cricket and do a lot for out country. The spin bowling deprogramming was very good. Noor showed his talent. Gurbaz and Ibrahim gave the momentum and confidence. The game was in our hand from the beginning till the end.
India
