CWC 2023, Match Number 34, Afghanistan VS Netherlands, Played at BSRA BV, Ekana Stadium, Lucknow, India on 3rd November 2023.
Netherlands 179 All Out in 46.3 Overs (Sybrand Engelbrecht 58, Max O’Dowd 42, Colin Ackerman 29, Mohammad Nabi 3.28, Noor Ahmed 2/31)
Afghanistan 181/3 in 31.3 Overs (Hasmatullah Shahidi 56*, Rahmat Shah 52, Azmatullah Amarzai 31*, Saqib Zulfiqar 1/25, Roelof van der Merwee 1/27, Logan Van Beek 1/30)
Afghanistan Won by 7 Wickets with 111 balls to spare
Player of The Match: Mohammad Nabi (3/28)
Afghan fairy tale in CWC 2023. Another huge win by 7 wins against Netherlands brightened its possibility for a dream semifinal. They need another win against Australia and South Africa. Yesterday at Lucknow the comfortably won by 7 wickets scoring 181/3 chasing Netherlands score of 179 all out with 111 balls to spare.
Winning the toss and electing to bat men from the land of Tulip appeared cruising with enterprising 2nd wicket partnership between Max O’Dowd (42) and Colin Ackerman. Afghan bowlers appeared to struggle a bit. But alert and smart fielding of the Afghans set cat among the mouse in Dutch camp. Max O’Dowd, Colin Ackerman, Sybrand Engelbrecht and Scott Edwards pathetically got run out in quick succession. Four wickets fell in adding only 25 runs. After this middle order collapse Netherland huffed and puffed in dealing with very high quality 4-pronged spin attack of Mohammad Nabi (3/28), Noor Ahmed (2/31), Mujeeb ur Rahman (1/40) and Rashid Khan (0/31). Afghanistan once again played with 4 leading spinners. Netherlands score of 179 All Out was well below par.
Afghans lost their openers Ramanullah Gurbaz (10) and Ibrahim Zadran (20) early within 55 runs in the chase. But a solid third week partnership between Rahmat Shah (52) and Hasmatullah Shahidi (56*) led Afghanistan cruising across the target scoring 181/3 in 31.3 overs. The huge win by 7 wickets consolidated Afghans position firmly at 5th among 10 teams with an outside chance of making the semifinal. They have confirmed their berth for the Champions trophy in any case. Senior professional Mohammad Nabi for his excellent bowling (3/28) was adjudged player of the match yesterday.
Afghans playing a wonderful brand of brave all round cricket has already earned the acclamation of cricket lovers, analysts, and commentators. The world is aware of their high quality multi-dimensional spin attack. Now their batting and fielding have also improved. They have surprised the pundits beating reigning champions England, Champions of 1992 and 1996 Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Yesterday they added Netherlands to the list.
No praises seem to be enough for Afghanistan appearing only in their third World Cup. For the uncertain situation, Afghanistan cannot play international cricket at home. The players are mostly stationed in UAE. India, Pakistan, and UAE provide the team support and assistance. Afghans play bilateral series at home away from home. Yet so many high-quality cricketers keep emerging. Afghans story is cricket’s fairy tale. If will be a huge milestone achieved if Afghanistan can really qualify for the semifinal. At this stage that possibility appears difficult but achievable for the brave Afghans.
BDST: 1004 HRS, NOV 4, 2023
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