Afghanistan 286 for 2 (Ibrahim 87, Rahmat 77*, Gurbaz 65, Shahidi 48*, Hasan 1-41). Pakistan 282 for 7 (Babar 74, Shafique 58, Noor 3-49, Naveen 2-52) by eight wickets
8:0 or 7:1? No, we’re not talking about that. Going into the fifth match of the 2023 World Cup, Afghanistan had not beaten Pakistan in an ODI in seven attempts. They had come close at least twice, but had suffered one heartbreak after another. But on perhaps the biggest stage of all, Afghanistan finally managed to break the hoodoo. And they did it in Chennai, chasing eight wickets for 283 with six balls remaining, their most successful chase in ODIs. Finally a “W” against Pakistan and also 1-7. It was also the most successful comeback against Pakistan in a World Cup match.
Should it be considered a surprise? Perhaps not after what Afghanistan did to England, not after the sober manner in which they pursued the goal on Monday and moved up to sixth in the table.
Afghanistan’s comeback began perfectly when Gurbaz Shaheen played Shah Afridi to the edge of the box and Ibrahim Afridi drove through the cover three balls later. While Ibrahim Hasan Ali cleaned up, Gurbaz targeted Haris Rauf, hitting him for four fours in his opener as Afghanistan raced to 60 after nine.
While the boundary scoring was impeccable, her running between the wickets was even better. Pakistan’s sloppy formation also helped them – they were everywhere.
Afghanistan needed just 15.3 overs to breach the 100-run mark. By this time, both Ibrahim and Gurbaz were already in their fifties. Pakistan’s first wicket didn’t come until the 22nd over when Afridi caused a top edge off Gurbaz’s blade to be ripped off by deep third.
However, no panic stations. Rahmat came in and immediately got to work in his usual diligent manner. Whenever there was a series of dot balls, Ibrahim or Rahmat would break the shackles with a boundary. They added 60 off 74 for the second wicket before Ibrahim, struggling with cramps, dismissed Hasan for 87.
Any thoughts of a collapse or even a few quick wickets were quickly dismissed by Shahidi and Rahmat. They added an unbeaten 96 runs for the third wicket and didn’t let Pakistan slip once. The calmness with which they went about their work was probably the most striking feature of the chase.
And Pakistan looked toothless for most of the chase with the bowlers barely getting anything out of the surface.
While Rahmat remained unbeaten on 77 with five fours and a six, Shahidi scored a 45-ball 48*. It was the captain who scored the crucial runs, denying Afridi with a pull/flick from Afridi, triggering emotional scenes in the dugout.
The first innings was one of three periods: Pakistan dominated the first 15 overs; Afghanistan crackpots had a stranglehold on the proceedings for the next 25 days; Pakistan managed 91 runs in the last ten. And that seemed to have given them the momentum going into the break.
The pitch in Chennai was the same one used in India’s opening match against Australia, so Afghanistan brought in Noor Ahmad for Fazalhaq Farooqi to have four spinners in their eleven. At least in the first 15 overs, the move seemed to have backfired.
Pakistan made 56 without loss in the first ten overs, the best powerplay they had in ten innings at the World Cup. There was another first – and second – event in these ten overs: Abdullah Shafique hit two sixes. The first was Pakistan’s first after 1169 balls in powerplays this year.
Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam – not a bad haul for Noor Ahmad•Associated Press
Pakistan had actually reached their 50 in 7.4 overs with Naveen-ul-Haq and Mujeeb Ur Rahman both losing runs. At this point, Shahidi turned to Mohammad Nabi and the veteran kept the run score in check with his effective variations in pace and length. Azmatullah Omarzai benefited from this at the other end when Imam-ul-Haq missed a pull to short midwicket.
Babar and Shafique took the innings forward and Shafique soon reached his second consecutive fifty in 60 balls. However, as the ball got a little older and the surface got a little tired, it started playing a few more tricks. Between the 16th and 31st overs, Pakistan managed just two fours and a six and scored 61 runs while losing two important wickets. Noor struck both decisive blows.
He first took out Shafique lbw with a false’un and then removed Mohammad Rizwan. Babar took 69 balls to reach his 50 before losing to Noor for 74.
At 206 for 5 at the end of 42 overs, Pakistan appeared to have fallen short of a par score. But Iftikhar and Shadab changed the script. The two added 73 from just 45 balls, negating the poor performance of the Afghan bowlers.
In the end, however, the batters came through.
Ashish Pant is an editor at ESPNcricinfo