Chennai: Half-centuries by Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmat Shah helped Afghanistan cause another big sensation in the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup, by beating Pakistan by eight wickets with six balls to spare for their first win against their neighbours, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, here.
Opener Gurbaz struck a 53-ball 65 while his partner Zadran anchored the innings with a 113-ball 87 as they raised 130 runs for the first wicket. Rahmat Shah, who scored an unbeaten 77 off 84 deliveries and shared an unbeaten 86-run partnership for the third wicket with skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi (48 not out), played a key role as Afghanistan reached 286/2 in 49 overs after restricting Pakistan to 282/7 in 50 overs.
This is Afghanistan’s second upset in this tournament after they stunned defending champions England by 69 runs a few days back. This was their highest-ever chase in ODI history.
This is Afghanistan’s second win in five matches in this event and takes them to four points, the same as Australia and Pakistan. However, Australia are in fourth position on better Net Run Rate while Pakistan are fifth, leaving Afghanistan occupying the sixth position among 10 teams.
Electing to bat, Pakistan were restricted to 282/7 in their 50 overs thanks mainly to a 92-ball 74 by skipper Babar Azam and a 75-ball 58 by opener Abdullah Shafique. Babar completed his fifty in 69 balls, hitting three fours.
Shadab Khan scored a 38-ball 40 (1×4, 1×6) while Iftikhar Ahmed blasted a 27-ball 40 (2×4, 4×5) to give the score some respectability after the Pakistan middle-order failed to capitalise on the platform provided by Shafique and skipper Babar Azam.
This is Pakistan’s third defeat in five matches in this World Cup.
Australia hammer Netherlands by historic 309 runs
New Delhi: After Glenn Maxwell and David Warner’s brilliant show with bat, Australia’s Adam Zampa spun a web around the Netherlands’ batter as Australia achieved the biggest victory in WC history – 309 runs in the 24th match of the ongoing ICC World Cup, here.
Zampa scalped four wickets, while Mitchell Marsh took two to bundle the Netherlands out for just 90 in 21 overs at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazelwood and Pat Cummins also managed to take one wicket each.
The five-time champions earned two points, and got a massive NRR boost, and are once again on course for a spot in the semis if they continue this way.
ICC World Cup 2023 Points Table
| Ranking | Name of the Team | Matches Played | Matches Won | Lost | Tied | Points | NRR |
| 1 | India (IND) | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1.350 |
| 2 | South Africa (SAF) | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2.370 |
| 3 | New Zealand (NZL) | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1.480 |
| 4 | Australia (AUS) | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1.481 |
| 5 | Pakistan (PAK) | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 | -0.400 |
| 6 | Afghanistan (AFG) | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 | -0.969 |
| 7 | Sri Lanka (SRL) | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | -1.048 |
| 8 | England (ENG) | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | -1.248 |
| 9 | Bangladesh (BAN) | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | -1.253 |
| 10 | Netherlands (NED) | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | -1.902 |
