A spirited Afghanistan staff continued its giant-killing spree to actually push Pakistan on the point of elimination with a eight-wicket victory in a Cricket World Cup sport on Monday. On a difficult Chepauk monitor, a goal of 283 was definitely not the best of chases however Kolkata Knight Riders’ Rahmanullah Gurbaz (65 off 53 balls) teed off in fashion whereas his associate Ibrahim Zadran (87 off 113 balls) dropped anchor on the different finish in a gap stand of 130 which laid the proper platform. Whereas expertise is price its weight in gold in these sort of video games, Afghanistan did properly sufficient to chase down the goal in 49 overs, exposing the frailties of Pakistan bowling unit which simply did not flip up on the day.

Having misplaced seven ODIs in opposition to Pakistan, Afghanistan was lacking out on that ending touches which was required and all of the 4 batters did play their components to perfection in what was their highest run-chase in historical past of fifty over format.

That is Afghanistan’s second win after beating defending champions England in New Delhi and with 4 factors are actually positioned sixth in mid-table muddle.

Pakistan, for time being, keep placed on fifth place however after a hat-trick of defeats, one other loss in opposition to South Africa later this week, will in all probability shut the knock-out doorways for the 1992 champions.

Seasoned Rahmat Shah (77 not out off 84 balls), whose straight six down the bottom off Hasan Ali was a visible deal with, confirmed admirable situational consciousness at the same time as Pakistan bowlers did put stress on him throughout the second part of the chase. He repeated the identical shot off the identical bowler to place Afghanistan inside sniffing distance of victory.

He received good help from skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi (48 not out, 45 balls), who reverse swept an off-colour Shadab Khan in opposition to the flip throughout essential juncture which spoke volumes about his temperament. The duo added 96 runs for the third wicket in a number of the most tough batting circumstances. The sense of happiness and elation after hitting the successful boundary was there for everybody to see.

The 21,000 odd sporting crowd at Chepauk additionally gave the staff a pleasant standing ovation.

The match that was performed on the identical monitor because the India versus Australia sport had each grip and activate provide however 282 for 7 by Pakistan was not at all a poor effort if one takes high quality spin bowling unit that Afghanistan possesses.

If spin is Afghanistan’s energy, it’s definitely Pakistan’s greatest weak point as bowlers of Shadab (0/49 in 8 overs) and Usama Mir (0/55 in 8 overs)’s high quality do not win World Cups.

In Indian home cricket, there are higher wrist spinners than these two and top-of-the-line on this planet, Yuzvendra Chahal hasn’t received a look-in on this Indian staff.

When Afghanistan began chase, Gurbaz, who hit 9 fours and a six, wasn’t overawed by Shaheen Shah Afridi, Hasan or Haris Rauf.

The Pakistanis bowled too many boundaries within the first 15 overs as Gurbaz took the likes of Rauf and leg-spinner Usama Mir to the cleaners and in addition hit off-spinner Iftikhar Ahmed for his solely six.

Sturdy on the off-side, Gurbaz repeatedly peppered the purpose and backward level area as Pakistani bowlers bowled brief and huge outdoors the off-stump.

In a single Rauf over, eighth of the innings, Gurbaz received 4 boundaries and save the final one, which was a streaky inside edge, three have been cuts or slashes via level area.

Pakistan’s fielding was garbage to say the least as most fielders tried placing blame on others in full public view, together with skipper Babar Azam, who misplaced his cool after failing to cease overthrows.

Earlier Babar struck a composed half-century earlier than helpful cameos by lower-order batters guided Pakistan to a fairly good whole if one takes the monitor into consideration.

Opener Abdullah Shafique made 58 off 75 balls and Babar received 74 off 92 balls, however had it not been for the efforts of Iftikhar Ahmed and the returning Shadab Khan, Pakistan would have completed with far lower than what they finally achieved.

Whereas Iftikhar smashed his strategy to a 27-ball 40, Shadab contributed a breezy 40 in 38 deliveries.

Anticipating a gradual pitch, the Afghans moved in with 4 spinners. Nonetheless, the monitor turned out to be higher than anticipated.

The Pakistani openers Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq (17) started on a cautious be aware and managed a 56-run stand.

Whereas they introduced up the facet’s 50 by the eighth over, Shafique was concentrating on pacer Naveen-ul-Haq.

Additionally, spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman was costly within the first 10 overs of the powerplay.

The primary supply of the second powerplay noticed the Afghans earn the primary breakthrough, with Imam falling to speedster Azmatullah Omarzai off a brief ball.

Nonetheless, the Males in Inexperienced barely panicked as Shafique joined forces with skipper Babar and put up a 54-run partnership for the second wicket.

At this level, spinners Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Kahn operated in tandem to maintain issues below management, not permitting the 2 batters within the center to free their arms.

Within the meantime, Shafique introduced up his third ODI half-century, whereas Babar appeared to combine aggression with warning.