Afghans break Pakistan hoodoo with highest-ever chase

Afghanistan have slain another giant at this World Cup, defeating Pakistan for the first time in ODIs with a clinical eight-wicket win in Chennai.

Asked to bowl first on a friendly batting strip, the Afghans did well to restrict Pakistan to 7-282, as teenage left-arm wrist spinner Noor Ahmad (3-49) claimed the big wickets of Abdullah Shafique (58), Mohammad Rizwan (8) and Babar Azam (74).

Playing to their strengths, their four-man spin attack sent down 38 overs, which contained a powerhouse Pakistani batting line-up through the middle overs after the '92 world champs flew out of the gates to be 0-50 after 7.4 overs.

At 5-206 from 42 overs, Pakistan looked like falling well under par, however a blazing 73-run stand from 45 balls between Shadab Khan (40) and Iftikhar Ahmed (40) pushed them to a competitive total, while still offering Afghanistan a realistic shot at achieving a maiden triumph over their neighbours in ODI cricket from their eighth attempt.

Getting there though would require a record-breaking effort; they would need to achieve their highest successful ODI run chase, and the highest successful chase against Pakistan at World Cups.

Opening pair Ibrahim Zadran (87) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (65), who have been batting together since they were 16-year-olds, brought up their fourth century stand for the tournament to give their side the perfect platform, from which Rahmat Shah (77no) and captain Hashmatullah Shahidi (48no) then completed a superb run chase with an over to spare.

"This win tastes nice," said Shahidi, who hit the winning runs. "The way we chased was very professional.

"At the start of the tournament, I said we want to make this tournament historic for our country's people. First was England, today Pakistan, and looking forward for the other games."

Veteran allrounder said the historic win over Pakistan was "a big moment for the whole team, but also whole Afghanistan as well – we have been waiting for the last 10-12 years.

"We beat England as well, and now Pakistan. The team is confident now. And the team knows if we score around 280-290 on this kind of surface, it's defendable and chaseable as well."

The result leaves both sides level on four points with Australia, who play their fifth match on Wednesday night against the Netherlands.

2023 men's ODI World Cup standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	No results N/R	Net Run Rate NRR	Deductions Ded.	Total points PTS
1 India Men IND	9	9	0	0	0	2.57	0	18
2 South Africa Men SA	9	7	2	0	0	1.261	0	14
3 Australia Men AUS	9	7	2	0	0	0.841	0	14
4 New Zealand Men NZ	9	5	4	0	0	0.743	0	10
5 Pakistan Men PAK	9	4	5	0	0	-0.199	0	8
6 Afghanistan Men AFG	9	4	5	0	0	-0.336	0	8
7 England Men ENG	9	3	6	0	0	-0.572	0	6
8 Bangladesh Men BAN	9	2	7	0	0	-1.087	0	4
9 Sri Lanka Men SL	9	2	7	0	0	-1.419	0	4
10 Netherlands Men NED	9	2	7	0	0	-1.825	0	4

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

N/R: No results

NRR: Net Run Rate

Ded.: Deductions

PTS: Total points