Cricket
Afghanistan ace highest chase to wreck Pakistan World Cup hopes | Cricket
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Afghanistan rode a dominant and clinical batting display to thump Pakistan by eight wickets on a difficult Chennai pitch on Monday. Eight days after outplaying defending champions England, Afghanistan have now thrown open the World Cup with another inspired performance where four spinners first restricted Pakistan to 282 before their batters chased it down without showing a shred of nerves to win by eight wickets.
The odds were heavily against Afghanistan, given their highest successful ODI chase before this was 274 against the United Arab Emirates in Dubai nine years ago.
First ball of the chase though, Rahmanullah Gurbaz turned away Shaheen Afridi’s gentle inswinger for a crisp boundary through long-leg. Three balls later, Ibrahim Zadran caressed Afridi’s wide half-volley from through covers for another boundary and Afghanistan were away.
Sixteen overs into the game, and Pakistan were visibly rattled as Gurbaz and Zadran brought up a 100-run stand, their fourth in ODI cricket.
By the 40th over, three Afghan batters – Gurbaz (65), Zadran (87) and Rahmat Shah (77*) had scored fifties for the first in their brief World Cup history. Surely it had to lead to something spectacular.
Pakistan’s bowling was often shambolic, and the fielding downright pedestrian at times. But there are still some matches where sides just tend to pull their weight even if the performance is at 50%. Not on Monday.
With every definitive stroke, Afghanistan punched holes in Pakistan’s bowling ego. Afridi proved to be ineffective in his first spell, Haris Rauf leaked 17 runs in his first over as Afghanistan calmly ticked off the boxes required in an assuring chase. The first wicket fell at 130 but by then Afghanistan were only 21 overs into the chase. When Zadran was dismissed – edging a short length ball from Hasan Ali to Rizwan – in the 34th over, the equation was less than run-a-ball.
Pakistan were well behind in the game but Afghanistan too have rarely been in such scenarios. Thoroughly fascinating however was how Afghanistan kept their calm, batting out a maiden to Hasan Ali but still watering down the ask to 62 off 60 balls after Afridi wasted a review trying to dismiss Rahmat.
Shadab Khan was reverse-swept for a four by Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi but more admirable was the way they stuck to the basics, finding gaps, putting pressure on Pakistani fielders converting easy singles into hard-run twos to chase down 282.
That score too wouldn’t have been possible without a fierce rearguard that helped Pakistan add 61 runs in the last five overs. Iftikhar Ahmed hit four sixes in a 27-ball 40 as Shadab Khan provided much-needed lower order stability with a 38-ball 40. On a slow Chennai pitch, Afghanistan’s fast bowlers were picked apart, conceding 102 runs in 12 overs. But the slower bowlers were predictably more difficult to score off, with 18-year-old left-armer Noor Ahmad grabbing a career best 3-49 on his World Cup debut.
Imam-ul-Haq fell early but Abdullah Shafique got stuck in and converted a cautious start into a fifty before debutant Noor Ahmad’s floater trapped him leg-before when he tried to sweep him. Turned down first, Afghanistan successfully reviewed their appeal at a time Pakistan were looking to accelerate.
In his next over, Noor again tossed up a floater but well outside off stump, luring Mohammad Rizwan into a premeditated sweep that he top-edged to short fine-leg. Till he was dismissed, Babar Azam kept finding runs despite spinners managing to keep a lid on the big shots. That changed once Ahmed and Shadab came together. But in the end, it proved to not be enough. Not even close.
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