Three consecutive losses for Pakistan as they lost to Afghanistan by eight wickets on Monday night. Batting first, Babar Azam’s side put up a 282 runs for the loss of seven wickets. Chasing the total, Afghanistan chased it down in 49 overs.
Three consecutive losses for Pakistan! Afghanistan seal victory by eight wickets
Batting first, Pakistan put up 282 runs on the board. Captain Babar Azam scored a well-made 74 off 92 deliveries. Iftikhar Ahmed smashed a stormy 27 ball 40 in the end and helped his team put a decent total on the board.
Noor Ahmed picked up three wickets and Naveen-ul-Haq picked up two.
Coming to bat, Afghanistan had a steady start thanks to the openers Gurbaz and Ibrahim smashing 65 and 87 respectively. After a brilliant start, the next batters Shah and Shahidi carried on the momentum and chased down the target with ease.
Afridi and Ali picked up one wicket each but the entire bowling effort wasn’t enough to restrict the Afghans below the target. With that win, Afghanistan marked their second victory in the tournament after against England and Pakistan registered their third consecutive loss in a row.
The Pakistanis have still their hopes alive for semi finals but much work needs to be done from their end. They didn’t have the best efforts on field today and had a mediocre fielding performance.
Afghanistan who has been through some massive strifes on and off the field, will remember the memorable night and terrific win for their lifetime!
Post match interviews
The Afghanistan captain Shahidi praised his team and the way they chased and mentioned they want to keep doing it. He further said how in the beginning of the tournament he mentioned making the tournament special for their countrymen. Shahidi also praised the spin bowling department and said they want to play positive cricket and do a lot for their countrymen.
Babar Azam, disappointed with his team’s performance, said that they didn’t do well with the ball and fielding as they gave away runs and didn’t stop boundaries. In Worldcup failing even in one department can cost the game. He further mentioned they missed hitting the lengths while bowling, especially their spinners. He concluded saying they’ll try their best in the next game.
Player of the match Ibrahim Zardan, who dedicated his award to all the Afghans who were forcibly sent back to Pakistan, said that he just wanted to go there and play with a positive mindset. Praising how Gurbaz supported him he said, that give him the momentum and he’s feeling great for himself and for his country.
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