Afghanistan put a performance of a lifetime in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023, as they registered a dominating win over Pakistan in Chennai on October 23. This is their second win in CWC 2023 and their first-ever over Pakistan in ODIs.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam won the toss and chose to bat first. He also top-scored with 74, while Abdullah Shafique made 58 runs. At one time Afghanistan looked like restricting Pakistan to under 250 runs. Their final total was propelled to 282/7 in 50 overs thanks to 40 runs each from Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed in death overs.
Noor Ahmad, in his World Cup debut, picked 3/49, while Naveen Ul Haq took two wickets.
Openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz (65) and Ibrahim Zadran (87) added 130 runs in just 21 overs to give a flying start to Afghanistan. Then Rahmat Shah (77*) and captain Hashmatullah Shahidi (48*) handled the pressure well after Zadran’s wicket and took Afghanistan home by 8 wickets and one over to spare.
This was a win to celebrate for Afghanistan and they did celebrate in style. They took a lap of the Chepauk stadium to thank the fans for their support. However, there was one moment that will become unforgettable.
During their lap, the Afghanistan team was passing near Irfan Pathan, who was discussing the win with official broadcasters. On seeing Rashid Khan, Irfan Pathan joined in and danced with the Afghanistan spinner.
“Rasid khan fulfilled his promise and I fulfilled mine. Well done guys,” Irfan posted on X.
