Afghanistan team created history as after defeating defending world champions England in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023, they caused another upset by beating the 1992 World Cup winners Pakistan in Chennai on October 23.
Afghanistan never looked in discomfort while chasing 283-run target. Pakistan had opted to bat first after winning the toss and despite captain Babar Azam’s 74, looked like scoring around 230 runs. But 40 each from Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed took them to 282/7 in 50 overs.
In response, Afghani openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz (65) and Ibrahim Zadran (87) took on the Pakistani bowlers from the start. They added 130 runs in just 21 overs for the first wicket. From there on, the Afghani batters scored pretty much easily with Pakistan spinners failing to take a single wicket on the spin-friendly Chepauk track.
Afghanistan won by 8 wickets in a thumping win with one over to go.
The depth of Afghanistan's first-ever ODI win against Pakistan can be understood by the celebratory videos that have emerged from back home in Kabul.
Firecrackers and gunfire could easily be seen in the capital as the Afghans celebrated the historic moment in their relatively young cricketing history.
Citizens celebrated Afghanistan’s win over Pakistan with celebratory gunfire, cheers, and fireworks across the Afghan capital Kabul for at least 15 minutes after the match concluded.
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Afghanistan now have 2 wins from 5 matches and their remaining encounters in the World Cup are against Sri Lanka, Netherlands, Australia and South Africa.
(AFP inputs)
