Pakistan Takes on Afghanistan in World Cup Match
In a thrilling encounter, Pakistan clashed with Afghanistan in their fifth match of the 2023 World Cup at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Monday. Pakistan set a challenging target of 282/7, with captain Babar Azam leading the charge with a score of 82. Iftikhar Ahmed and Shadab Khan also contributed with valuable knocks of 40 each. Noor Ahmed shone for Afghanistan, taking 3 wickets on his World Cup debut.
Afghanistan began their chase strongly, with openers Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz forging a solid partnership of over 100 runs for the first wicket. However, in order to secure victory in this match, Afghanistan will need to defy the odds, as they have never beaten Pakistan in One Day Internationals (ODIs) before.
The history between these two teams reveals that they have faced each other seven times in ODIs, with Pakistan emerging victorious on all seven occasions. The first encounter between the teams took place in 2012, in which Shahid Afridi’s remarkable bowling performance (5/36) limited Afghanistan to a total of 195. Pakistan comfortably chased down the target with Younis Khan’s unbeaten knock of 70.
In the 2019 World Cup, the teams engaged in a thrilling contest in Leeds, where Afghanistan batted first and notched up a total of 227/9. Despite reducing Pakistan to 156/6, a brilliant unbeaten 49 by Imad Wasim guided Pakistan to a narrow victory with two balls to spare.
The closest Afghanistan came to defeating Pakistan in ODIs happened earlier this year during a bilateral series in Sri Lanka. Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s brilliant knock of 151 propelled Afghanistan to a formidable total of 300/5. In a tense finish, Pakistan managed to clinch victory with a ball to spare, aided by Naseem Shah’s boundary.
As for the ongoing World Cup, India, England, and Australia are considered the frontrunners to lift the trophy. Pakistan and New Zealand are currently tied in the odds for the fourth spot in the top four, while South Africa also maintains a decent chance of progressing to the semifinals.
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