Follow UsIn their eighth attempt, Afghanistan have finally tasted success against Pakistan in the ODI format. They had earlier lost all their seven ODIs against Pakistan. They had came close on few occasions previously, like the 2019 World Cup fixture between these two neighboring nations which Pakistan won by only three wickets. In 2023, however, the Afghans were clinical throughout the run chase, defeating Pakistan by eight wickets and an over to spare.
Afghanistan skipper, Hashmatullah Shahidi said the win tastes nice. He contributed with an unbeaten 48 runs in a successful run chase of 283 and hit the winning boundary.
"This win tastes nice. The way we chased today was very professional,” said Shahidi.
“We have been quality cricket from a couple of years. We will try our best to play positive cricket, and do a lot for our country,” he told after the match.
Mohammad Nabi, in a post match conversation with Star Sports, rated it more special than the victory over England in Delhi. "Big moment for the whole of Afghanistan. We have played eight games against Pakistan, it's a lovely moment today,” said Nabi.
Long back in 2009, Nabi had featured in Afghanistan’s first ever ODI and was the player-of-the-match in an 89-run win. This is Afghanistan’s third World Cup win, two of which came in this edition. The win over Pakistan in Chennai has lifted them from the bottom of the points table to the sixth spot.
“We beat England as well, and now Pakistan. The team is confident now.
“[In the previous games] in the last moments, we used to lose the game [to Pakistan]. A lot of close games, and this is a fantastic feeling. We shouldn't have lost against Bangladesh,” Nabi added on Afghanistan's situation in the 2023 World Cup.
Dropping Fazalhaq Farooqui, Afghanistan played four spinners in the game, citing the spin-friendly nature of the Chennai track. The trio of Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Rashid Khan, Nabi and Noor Ahmad picked four wickets between them at an economy of 4.6. None of the three Pakistani spinners were able to be in the wickets column, bowling 21 overs between them.
“We thought it was the same wicket like against New Zealand, but it was totally changed. Noor bowled brilliantly, in the good areas,” Nabi mentioned Noor’s contribution who pouched 3/49 in 10 overs.
“The spin bowling department did very well. We gave a chance to Noor and trusted in him, he showed his skill,” Shahidi spoke of Afghanistan's bowling in the match.
“The way Gurbaz and Ibrahim started the innings, they gave that momentum and confidence. The game was in our hand from the beginning till the end. The last partnership that me and Rahmat played was also good,” said Shahidi on the batting front.
Ibrahim Zadran, who won the player-of-the-match award for his 87 off 113 balls also mentioned his opening partner’s contribution to his innings.
“We [Gurbaz and himself] have played a lot of cricket with each other, we have good communication while running between the wickets as we have been playing together since under-16 days.
“The way Gurbaz supported me [in that opening partnership] - that helped me and we got the momentum in our favour,” Zadran told.
Babar Azam, the Pakistan skipper reckoned his team was not up to the make in the bowling and fielding department.
“This hurts us. We had a good total. In the bowling, we aren't up to the mark because we are not taking wickets in the middle overs. In the World Cup, if you are not good in even one department, then you'll lose the match. we started well, in the middle overs, we needed wickets but we couldn't take any wickets” Babar said about the bowling attack that could manage only two wickets in 49 overs.
Pakistan’s poor fielding added to their plight. “In the field, we didn't stop boundaries and gave away runs, that cost us,” Babar said about fielding.
“We are not playing good cricket in bowling and fielding. We'll try our best in the next match. We didn't hit the lengths in the middle overs, especially our spinners,” Babar enunciated on Pakistan’s failure in defending 283.
After kicking off the campaign with two wins in Hyderabad, Pakistan have now lost three matches in three different cities - Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Chennai. They will now face South Africa in Chennai on Friday (October 27). Afghanistan will head to Pune, to lock horns with Sri Lanka on Monday (October 30).