Credit: Twitter
Afghanistan pulled off another clinical performance as they defeated Pakistan by eight wickets to registers their second win of the ICC ODI World Cup 2023. Despite a few big losses, Afghans have now defeated two previous World Cup winners in Pakistan and England so far in this year's event.
Follow: ICC ODI World Cup 2023 Live Score
Batting first, the Men in Green got off to steady start, despite losing opener Imam-ul-Haq cheaply. Building on the 56-run stand, Abdullah Shafique and Babar Azam carried the scoring responsibilities. Both these batters scored half-centuries before Iftikhar Ahmed and Shadab Khan also contributed valuable runs towards the back end of the innings.
The all-rounder duo each scored 40 and carried the Pakistani total to 282 runs in the first innings. Hoping for a solid start with the bowling, the Men in Green had to deal with an Afghani opening stand that started off on a positive note.
The pair of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran stitched up a partnership of 130 runs. Gurbarz got out at the score of 65 in 53 balls while Zadran posted 87 in 113 balls. Despite losing both openers at 190, the Afghani captain Hashmatullah Shahidi paired with Rahmat Shah to finish off the game and give Afghanistan a historic eight-wicket win.
