Afghanistan turned a corner when they defeated Pakistan for the first time in an ODI on Monday (October 23) in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. The match played in Chennai saw a special chapter being written in the history of Afghanistan cricket.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam won the toss and elected to bat first. Opener Abdullah Shafique scored 58, while Babar himself made 74 as Pakistan finished with 282/7 on the board after brisk 40's by Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed. Noor Ahmad took 3/49 on his World Cup debut.
Afghanistan needed to pull off their highest successful chase of all-time and to do that they needed a great start, which they got from Rahmanullah Gurbaz (65) and Ibrahim Zadran (87), who added a 130-run partnership for the opening wicket.
Rahmat Shah (77*) and captain Hashmatullah Shahidi (48*) batted sensibly thereafter to get their team across the line with an over to spare and eight wickets in hand. Afghanistan registered their first-ever win over Pakistan and second in the ongoing tournament after they toppled England.
It was a momentous day in Afghanistan's history and the players were seen dancing and celebrating their achievement in their dressing room.
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