• Afghanistan stuns Pakistan: Historic 8-wicket win.
• Afghan batsmen shine: Zadran and Shah lead chase.
• Waqar Younis speechless: Pakistan falls to Shahidi’s shot.

Afghanistan’s cricket team secured a historic victory over Pakistan, defeating the Green Shirts by eight wickets at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, India.

This remarkable triumph, the first for Afghanistan over Pakistan in one-day international (ODI) cricket, left former Pakistani pacer Waqar Younis, who was in the commentary box, utterly shocked and speechless.

The pivotal moment of the match occurred when Afghanistan’s skipper, Hashmatullah Shahidi, struck the winning four, leaving Waqar Younis, who represented Pakistan in 349 matches, looking completely defeated and speechless. Pommie Mbangwa, a former Zimbabwe player who joined the commentary team after Afghanistan’s historic win, took over as Waqar Younis sat helplessly, pondering Pakistan’s performance.

Afghanistan’s successful chase of Pakistan’s target of 283 was powered by impressive performances from their batsmen. Ibrahim Zadran scored 87 runs, Rahmat Shah remained unbeaten at 77*, and Rahmanullah Gurbaz contributed 65 runs. Hashmatullah Shahidi played a crucial role by adding valuable runs with an unbeaten 48*.

Pakistan, who batted first, posted a total of 282 for the loss of seven wickets. Skipper Babar Azam and opener Abdullah Shafique both scored half-centuries. However, Afghanistan’s teenage leg-spinner, Noor Ahmad, made a significant impact by taking two key wickets, slowing down Pakistan’s progress.

Contributions from Iftikhar Ahmed and Shadab Khan, who scored 40 runs each, helped Pakistan recover from a minor collapse during the middle of their innings when they were four down for 163 runs. Noor Ahmad, making his debut in the competition, excelled with figures of 3/49.

Afghanistan’s chase began strongly, with Ibrahim and Gurbaz sharing a 130-run partnership. Pakistan’s Shaheen Afridi eventually broke this partnership, but Hasan Ali was only able to dismiss Ibrahim, who had earlier become the fastest Afghan player to reach 1000 runs in ODIs.

Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi calmly guided Afghanistan to their second victory in the tournament. Pakistan now has two wins and three defeats in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 and will face South Africa at the same venue on October 27. Afghanistan is set to play Sri Lanka on October 30 in Lucknow.

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