ICC World Cup 2023: Afghanistan beat Pakistan for first time in ODI history

A spirited Afghanistan team continued its giantkilling spree to literally push Pakistan on the brink of elimination with a eightwicket victory in a ICC World Cup 2023game on MondayOn a challenging Chepauk track a target of 283 was certainly not the easiest of chases but Kolkata Knight Riders Rahmanullah Gurbaz 65 off 53 balls teed off in style while his partner Ibrahim Zadran 87 off 113 balls dropped anchor at the other end in an opening stand of 130 which laid the perfect platformWhile experience is worth its weight in gold in these kind of games Afghanistan did well enough to chase down the target in 49 overs exposing the frailties of Pakistan bowling unit which just didnt turn up on the dayHaving lost seven ODIs against Pakistan Afghanistan was missing out on that finishing touches which was required and all the four batters did play their parts to perfection in what was their highest runchase in history of 50 over formatThis is Afghanistans second win after beating defending champions England in New Delhi and with four points are now placed sixth in midtable muddlePakistan for time being stay put on fifth place but after a hattrick of defeats another loss against South Africa later this week will in all likelihood shut the knockout doors for the 1992 championsAlso ReadVirat Kohli the most complete batsman in modern eraSeasoned Rahmat Shah 77 not out off 84 balls whose straight six down the ground off Hasan Ali was a visual treat showed admirable situational awareness even as Pakistan bowlers did put pressure on him during the second phase of the chase He repeated the same shot off the same bowler to put Afghanistan within sniffing distance of victoryHe got good support from skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi 48 not out 45 balls who reverse swept an offcolour Shadab Khan against the turn during crucial juncture which spoke volumes about his temperament The duo added 96 runs for the third wicket in some of the most difficult batting conditions The sense of happiness and elation after hitting the winning boundary was there for everyone to seeThe 21000 odd sporting crowd at Chepauk also gave the team a nice standing ovationThe match that was played on the same track as the India versus Australia game had both grip and turn on offer but 282 for 7 by Pakistan was by no means a poor effort if one takes quality spin bowling unit that Afghanistan possessesIf spin is Afghanistans strength it is certainly Pakistans biggest weakness as bowlers of Shadab 049 in 8 overs and Usama Mir 055 in 8 overss quality dont win World CupsIn Indian domestic cricket there are better wrist spinners than these two and one of the best in the world Yuzvendra Chahal hasnt got a lookin in this Indian teamWhen Afghanistan started chase Gurbaz who hit nine fours and a six wasnt overawed by Shaheen Shah Afridi Hasan or Haris RaufThe Pakistanis bowled too many boundaries in the first 15 overs as Gurbaz took the likes of Rauf and legspinner Usama Mir to the cleaners and also hit offspinner Iftikhar Ahmed for his only sixStrong on the offside Gurbaz repeatedly peppered the point and backward point region as Pakistani bowlers bowled short and wide outside the offstumpIn one Rauf over eighth of the innings Gurbaz got four boundaries and save the last one which was a streaky inside edge three were cuts or slashes through point regionPakistans fielding was rubbish to say the least as most fielders tried putting blame on others in full public view including skipper Babar Azam who lost his cool after failing to stop overthrowsEarlier Babar struck a composed halfcentury before useful cameos by lowerorder batters guided Pakistan to a reasonably good total if one takes the track into accountAlso ReadAfghans relish new lease of lifeOpener Abdullah Shafique made 58 off 75 balls and Babar got 74 off 92 balls but had it not been for the efforts of Iftikhar Ahmed and the returning Shadab Khan Pakistan would have finished with far less than what they eventually achievedWhile Iftikhar smashed his way to a 27ball 40 Shadab contributed a breezy 40 in 38 deliveriesExpecting a slow pitch the Afghans moved in with four spinners However the track turned out to be better than expectedThe Pakistani openers Shafique and ImamulHaq 17 began on a cautious note and managed a 56run standWhile they brought up the sides 50 by the eighth over Shafique was targeting pacer NaveenulHaqAlso spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman was expensive in the first 10 overs of the powerplayThe first delivery of the second powerplay saw the Afghans earn the first breakthrough with Imam falling to speedster Azmatullah Omarzai off a short ballNevertheless the Men in Green barely panicked as Shafique joined forces with skipper Babar and put up a 54run partnership for the second wicketAt this point spinners Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Kahn operated in tandem to keep things under control not allowing the two batters in the middle to free their armsIn the meantime Shafique brought up his third ODI halfcentury while Babar looked to mix aggression with cautionWith inputs from agencies