Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, and Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi get amongst the runs, as Afghanistan defeats Pakistan by eight wickets in Chennai.
Shahidi’s team came into this fixture on the back of being thumped by New Zealand by 149 runs. On the other side, Babar Azam”s men were on the back of two successive defeats to India and Australia.
It was Pakistan who won the toss and chose to Bat.
Abdullah Shafique and Imam Ul Haq got them off to a solid start putting on a 50-run stand for the opening partnership.
Embed from Getty ImagesBefore Azmatullah Omarzai got the breakthrough, dismissing Imam at 56-1.
Embed from Getty ImagesShafique steadied the ship with a 54-run stand with Babar.
Embed from Getty ImagesBefore Noor Ahmad claimed Shafique as his second ODI scalp at 110-2.
Ahmad made it back-to-back success for Afghanistan, getting another big scalp in Mohammed Rizwan at 120-3.
Embed from Getty ImagesSaud Shakeel looked to be repairing the innings for Pakistan.
Embed from Getty ImagesBut Mohammed Nabi stopped him in his tracks at 163-4.
It was at this stage that Pakistan was in a spot of bother and needed their Captain to come to their rescue yet again.
Embed from Getty ImagesBut after putting on a decent partnership with Shadab Khan, his innings of 71 came to an end by Ahmad at 206-5.
Embed from Getty Imageskhan and Iftikhar Ahmed gave Pakistan’s innings a substantial kick, with a partnership of 73 from 45 balls.
Embed from Getty ImagesBut just as the duo looked like getting a total above 300, Naveen Ul Haq made the two crucial breakthroughs, dismissing Iftikhar for 40 at 279-6.
And Khan for 40, at 282-7.
Embed from Getty ImagesWith the 1992 winners ending their innings on 282-7, it was going to take a special effort for the Afghans to chase it down, based on the fact that batting has not been their strength.
But Gubaaz and Zadran gave them the platform of their chase, with an opening stand of 130 from 126 balls.
Embed from Getty ImagesBefore Shaheenshah Afridi sent Gurbaaz back for a well-played 65 from 53 balls, at 130-1.
Embed from Getty ImagesZadran looked in full flow for the first time in this tournament.
He even used Rizwan as a physiotherapist, as began to cramp up.
Embed from Getty ImagesA World Cup hundred looked to be on the cards, but when he reached 87, his attempted cut shot off Hasan Ali got an edge through to Rizwan at 190-2.
Embed from Getty ImagesBut a 96-run partnership between Shah and Shadidi was what guided Afghanistan to another famous victory.
Embed from Getty ImagesThis was the first time that Afghanistan had won an ODI match against Pakistan. The Men in Green have won the last seven meetings in this format. The Afghani Captain was pleased with his side’s performance, especially while chasing.
“This win tastes nice. The way we chased was very professional and the way we did that will help us going into our other games now. “We are playing quality cricket. We have always had belief and at the start of the tournament I told my team I wanted to make it a historic one for our country and our people. We did that against England and now against Pakistan.
Hashmatullah Shahidi: BBC Sport
Meanwhile, Azam was less impressed with his side’s performance, especially with the ball.
“That really hurt us. We got a good total. Our bowling is not up to the mark. “In World Cups you need all three departments firing and we haven’t done that. Afghanistan played very well but we gave them a lot of runs and it cost us. “We were backing ourselves to win, but they played well in all three departments and we didn’t. We have got to put that right in our next match.”
Azam: BBC Sport
The win for Afghanistan puts them in sixth place behind Pakistan in fifth.
With Sri Lanka, Netherlands, Australia, and South Africa left to play, you would think that Afghanistan would need to win at least two of those matches, to be in with a chance of reaching the semis.
As for Pakistan, although this is a painful defeat, they will need to win all of their remaining fixtures against South Africa, Bangladesh, New Zealand, and England, to be certain of a place in the semi-final.
What more is in store for Afghanistan in the World Cup?
Find out on World In Sport.
