CHENNAI- Afghanistan beat Pakistan by eight wickets in the 22nd match of ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 at M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Monday evening.
Chasing a decent 283-run target for victory, Afghanistan reached the milestone, losing just two wickets and one over to spare.
Openers Rehmanullah Gurbaz (65) and Ibrahim Zadran (87) laid a solid foundation with a 130-run partnership. Another 60-run stand between Rehmat Shah (77) and Ibrahim Zadran took the team close to the victory target. Hashmatullah Shahidi (48) and Rehmat Shah helped the team cross the finishing line with the loss of two openers.
Shaheen Shah Afridi and Hassan Ali took one wicket each.
Ibrahim Zadran was named player of the match.
After winning the toss and electing to bat first on a slow track, openers Abdullah Shafiq (58) and Imam-ul-Haq (17) provided a solid start with a 56-run partnership.
Babar Azam (74) and Abdullah Shafique put 54 runs together to put Pakistan on track for a big score. Babar Azam anchored the inning as wickets fell on the other end.
Mohammad Rizwan made eight and Saud Shakeel 25 runs. After the departure of Babar Azam, Shadab Khan (40) and Iftikhar Ahmed (40) finished the inning strongly and Pakistan managed to reach 282/7 in the allotted 50 overs.
Noor Ahmad bagged three wickets and Naveen-ul-Haq two while Mohammad Nabi and Azmatullah Omarzai took one wicket each.
Playing XI:
Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Usama Mir, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq
