Afghanistan is in the race to become the semi-finalist of the World Cup with one after another victory. They lost against the Netherlands with 7 wickets and 111 balls in hand.
After this win, they have 8 points in 7 matches. New Zealand and Australia have equal 8 points. As a result, Afghans are also progressing in the semi-finals with the big teams.
After winning the toss and batting in Lucknow, India on Friday, the Netherlands went on the backfoot after losing wickets in the interval from the beginning of the innings. First row lost 7 wickets for 134 runs. Due to the batting disaster, the Dutch were all out for 179 runs in 46.3 overs.
It was the bowlers who set the stage for Afghanistan’s victory in Lucknow today. The target for victory was 180 runs. Rahmanullah Gurbaz (10) and Ibrahim Zadran (20) lost within 55 runs, but Rahmat Shah and captain Hasmatullah Shahidi’s fifties made it easy for Afghans to win.
Rahmat was dismissed for 52 off 54 balls with 8 boundaries. However, captain Shahidi left the field after winning the team. He remained unbeaten on 56 runs off 64 balls with 6 boundaries. Azmatullah Omarzai scored an unbeaten 31 off 28 balls.
Before that, the Netherlands was like Saturn. In one inning, four batters fell into the trap of runout! Afghanistan also bowled brilliantly. As a result, the Dutch’s innings was reduced to 179 runs in 46.3 overs.
Netherlands won the toss and decided to bat in Lucknow. Shock at the start. In the first over of the innings, Mujeeb Ur Rahman sent back Wesley Beresi LBW. Netherlands only 3 runs on the board then.
Colin Ackerman and Max O’Dowd were able to cope with the initial shock. They made a partnership of 69 runs off 63 balls for the second wicket. But then the Dutch fell into a batting disaster with three consecutive runouts. O’Dowd was 42 off 40 balls, Colin Ackerman 29 off 35 balls and captain Scott Edwards was run out with 0 off 1 ball.
Sybrand Engelbrecht held an edge. But he also had to fall into the trap of runout. This batsman scored 58 runs in 6 boundaries off 86 balls. Sybrand, who got out as the eighth batsman, was the only half-centurioner in the Dutch innings. Mohammad Nabi of Afghanistan took 3 wickets for 28 runs and Noor Ahmed took 2 wickets for 31 runs.
