Afghanistan defeated Pakistan by 8 wickets in Chennai.
Afghanistan recorded a historic 8-wicket win over Pakistan in Match 22 of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 on Monday (October 23) in Chennai. It was their first win over Pakistan in ODI cricket after several heartbreaking defeats.
Pakistan opted to bat first and scored 282/7 in 50 overs with captain Babar Azam (74) and Abdullah Shafique (58) scoring fifties. Noor Ahmad impressed as he took 3/49 on World Cup debut.
Chasing 283 to win, Afghanistan got off to a wonderful start of 130 runs with openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz (65) and Ibrahim Zadran (87) scoring half-centuries. Rahmat Shah (77*) and captain Hashmatullah Shahidi (48*) batted sensibly to take the team past the finishing line as Afghanistan won by 8 wickets with 6 balls left.
WATCH - Afghanistan players celebrate historic win over Pakistan in Chennai
Ibrahim Zadran, who won the Player-of-the-Match award, made an explosive statement as he dedicated his award to the Afghan refugees in Pakistan who were forcefully sent home to Afghanistan.
“I am feeling very glad for myself and for my country. I want to dedicate this Player of the Match award to that people who were sent back from Pakistan to back home Afghanistan,” Zadran said in the post-match presentation.
“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,” he said on his partnership with Gurbaz.
“The way Gurbaz supported me (in that opening partnership) – that helped me and we got the momentum in our favour. I am feeling great for myself and my country,” Zadran added.
Afghanistan now have two wins from five matches, as they had beaten defending champions England previously in Delhi.