Afghanistan vs Pakistan Top Moments: How AFG dismantled PAK to make history

A little over a week after their giant-killing act against England in Delhi, which at the time was being described as their greatest cricketing victory ever, Afghanistan pulled off another incredible feat by outplaying Pakistan to record their second win of the 2023 ICC World Cup.

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Both teams had entered the 22nd match of the ongoing World Cup on the back of defeats, with Afghanistan having been routed by 149 runs by New Zealand after their victory over England and Pakistan suffering consecutive losses against India and Australia.

Afghanistan, however, managed to put the lopsided defeat against the Black Caps behind to register one of their most dominant performances against a Full Member nation.

Given their bitter cricketing rivalry against Pakistan and the fact that they hadn’t beaten their neighbours to the east in seven previous ODI meetings, the eight-wicket victory against Pakistan on Monday might just trump their 69-run win over England last week.

Looking back at the events of the classic encounter at Chepauk, we bring to you five of the key developments from the match:

Abdullah Shafique gets Pakistan off to an ideal start

Abdullah Shafique certainly has been one of Pakistan’s success stories in the ongoing World Cup and he has cemented his place at the top of their batting order ever since the team management decided to drop Fakhar Zaman.

Shafique slammed his third fifty-plus score in four outings after Pakistan skipper Babar Azam opted to bat against the Afghans at Chepauk, scoring a 75-ball 58 that contained five-fours and two sixes, stitching fifty-plus stands with opening partner Imam-ul-Haq as well as Babar.

Noor Ahmad turns the game around with key wickets

The Afghans decided to play an extra spinner on a conducive Chepauk wicket, bringing in Noor Ahmad in place of left-arm seamer Fazalhaq Farooqi. A decision that would later prove to be a game-changer.

 

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Noor had already impressed for the Gujarat Titans in the IPL but didn’t quite have as much of an impact in the international arena in the three ODIs and one T20I he had appeared in before Monday’s fixture. Against Pakistan, however, the left-arm wrist spinner produced one of the most defining spells of his career so far in which he removed the well set Shafique (58) and Babar (74) before getting rid of Mohammad Rizwan (8) early in the innings.

He finished the pick of the Afghan bowlers with 3/49 from 10, and his spell was instrumental in denying Pakistan a total in excess of 300 that they were quite sure of at one stage.

Iftikhar, Shadab cameos help Pakistan cross 280

Noor’s spell, in fact, could have restricted Pakistan to a score in the range of 250-260. That they ended up with a respectable total in excess of 280 was largely down to handy contributions from Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed in the middle order, both scoring 40 each off 38 and 27 deliveries respectively.

Iftikhar, in particular, highlighted his ability to go hammer-and-tong in the slog overs by smashing two fours and four sixes, one of which came in Rashid Khan’s final over.

Gurbaz and Zadran lead the way with a big opening stand

Rahmanullah Gurbaz has been Afghanistan’s standout performer with the bat so far in their World Cup campaign while opening partner Ibrahim Zadran was due a big score after getting off to promising starts more often than not. Despite posting 282 on the board, Pakistan needed an early wicket or two, preferably that of Gurbaz, to set panic among the Afghan batters.

A composed 87 from Ibrahim Zadran helped Afghanistan to their maiden ODI win against Pakistan