Afghanistan continued their dream run in the ODI World Cup with their third win in a row against the Netherlands by 7 wickets on Friday. It was another clinical performance from Afghanistan as they outclassed the Dutch in all three departments of the game at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow.
The Afghan spinners spun their web to bundle out the Netherlands for just 179 as veteran Mohammad Nabi was the pick of the bowlers with three scalps under his kitty.
Chasing 180 to win, Afghanistan reached their target with 111 balls to spare to clinch a fourth win at the tournament to add to victories over defending champions England, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
ICC World Cup: Schedule | Results | Points Table | Most Runs | Most Wickets
The clinical performance also improved Afghanistan’s NRR – -0.330 as they are still alive in the semi-final race with 8 points in 7 matches.
Meanwhile, Rahmat Shah hit his third successive half-century for Afghanistan while skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi made an undefeated 56, also his third fifty in a row.
Rahmat had scored 77 against Pakistan and 62 in the win over Sri Lanka.
On Friday, he hit a 54-ball 52 with eight fours and shared a 74-run third wicket partnership with Hashmatullah after openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz (10) and Ibrahim Zadran (20) had departed cheaply.
Rahmat fell, caught and bowled by Saqib Zulfiqar with 129 on the board and his team well set for victory.
Hashmatullah’s 56 came off 64 balls and followed his 80 against India and 58 in the match with Sri Lanka.
Earlier, Afghanistan bundled out Netherlands to 179 as the spinners ruled the roost on a tricky surface.
The Netherlands, who still harboured a slim hope of squeezing into the semi-finals, won the toss and opted to bat but were undone by seeing four of their batsmen run-out.
They recovered from seeing 39-year-old opener Wesley Barresi dismissed by spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman in the first over.
Max O’Dowd and Colin Ackermann put on 70 for the second wicket when a series of calamities put them on the back foot.
O’Dowd was on 42 when he was beaten by a direct hit by Azmatullah Omarzai from fine leg.
With the score on 92-2, Ackermann (29) failed to make his ground when Ikram Alikhil whipped off the bails from a smart throw by Rashid Khan.
On the next delivery, skipper Scott Edwards swept, lost sight of the ball and as he wandered aimlessly out of his crease Alikhil ran him out without scoring.
Mohammad Nabi and teenage wrist spinner Noor Ahmad then sent back Bas de Leede and Saqib Zulfiqar with Logan van Beek dismissed thanks to a smart stumping by wicketkeeper Alikhil.
(With Agency Inputs)
Comments
0 comment