Once upon a ‘Night’ in Chennai

In a historic match in Chennai today, Afghanistan secured a BIG victory over Pakistan, primarily driven by the outstanding performance of their opening batsmen, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran.

Afghanistan pulled off their second major upset in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, dealing Pakistan an eight-wicket defeat, marking their first-ever triumph against the Men in Green in an ODI match.

In pursuit of a target of 283 runs, Afghanistan showcased exceptional batting, with key contributions from Ibrahim Zadran (87), Rahmat Shah (77 not out), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (65), and skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi (48 not out), ultimately achieving their goal with six balls to spare.

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This win comes after Afghanistan’s previous stunning victory over the defending champions, England, in the same tournament. Both Afghanistan and Pakistan now hold two wins and three losses in the group stage, with the scorecard between the two teams now reading 7-1 in favor of Afghanistan in their eight encounters in ODI cricket.

Here are the playing XIs for the match:

Pakistan:

1. Abdullah Shafique
2. Imam-ul-Haq
3. Babar Azam (capt)
4. Mohammad Rizwan (wk)
5. Saud Shakeel
6. Iftikhar Ahmed
7. Shadab Khan
8. Usama Mir
9. Hasan Ali
10. Shaheen Shah Afridi
11. Haris Rauf

Afghanistan:

1. Rahmanullah Gurbaz
2. Ibrahim Zadran
3. Rahmat Shah
4. Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt)
5. Azmatullah Omarzai
6. Ikram Alikhil (wk)
7. Mohammad Nabi
8. Rashid Khan
9. Mujeeb Ur Rahman
10. Naveen-ul-Haq
11. Noor Ahmad