Afghanistan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi has showered praise on the bowlers after their massive win against Pakistan at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Monday. After Babar Azam decided to bat first, Afghanistan was able to restrict them to 282, which one thought was a par score at the halfway stage but it wasn’t to be.
Pakistan was given a decent start as Abdullah Shafique continued to impress as he scored another fifty, his second of the tournament. However, Pakistan lost two quick wickets to find themselves at 120-3.
Babar Azam top-scored with 74 to get the much-needed runs under his belt whereas the finishing touches were given by Shadab Khan (40 off 38) and Iftikhar Ahmed (40 off 27).
In fact, Afghanistan had gone in with four spinners and all of them did a fine job. The 18-year-old World Cup debutant Noor Ahmad was the pick of the Afghanistan spinners, returning with 3-49.
Naveen ul Haq, the solitary main pacer in the playing XI, bagged two wickets. Furthermore, Nabi bowled a fine spell of 1-31 whereas Rashid Khan was also economical, conceding 41 runs in his 10 overs but went wicketless.
Mohammad Nabi said while talking to Star Sports, “I think our bowlers did very well to restrict them to that kind of total. The plan was to play Noor in this game, and he bowled brilliantly, in the right areas. This win is a long time coming, we played for the first time in 2012, then Asia Cup and 2019 World Cup. Lots of close games against Pakistan.”
Nabi also hailed the team’s openers – Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran. Gurbaz went on to score an attacking knock of 65 runs off just 53 balls whereas Zadran played a match-winning knock of 87 runs, second highest for Afghanistan in their World Cup history.
He added, “We can not only defend but also chase well now. This win is the favorite, we have played 7-8 games against them, and in the last moment, we have always lost. The way Ibrahim and Gurbaz started, gave us the momentum. We didn’t lose back-to-back wickets till the end. We thought the surface would be like the NZ game, but it was much easier.”
Afghanistan will next take on Sri Lanka at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune on Monday.
