‘Lagta hai ye semi-finals pahunch jaayenge’ – Fans react as Afghanistan register their 4th win by defeating Netherlands in ODI World Cup clash

Afghanistan registered their 3rd consecutive win in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023 by defeating the Netherlands in the 34th match of the tournament. The contest between the two teams was played at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Friday, November 3. With this win, the Afghan team are now sitting in the 5th spot with 8 points in 7 matches.

Talking about the match, after losing the toss, Afghanistan were asked to field first. Mujeeb Ur Rahman, in excellent form, quickly dismissed Dutch opener Wesley Barresi in the very first over. However, Max ODowd and Colin Ackermann adopted a positive approach and built a solid 50-run partnership, stabilising the Netherlands’ innings.

Just when things were looking promising for the Dutch, the game took a dramatic turn as they lost 5 wickets for a mere 40 runs, and their scoring rate dropped significantly. Three of these dismissals were due to run-outs, leaving the Netherlands in a precarious situation.

Afghanistan had an opportunity to seize control of the game at that point, but Sybrand Engelbrecht was dropped twice in consecutive deliveries. Engelbrecht fought hard and managed to surpass his fifty, but a lapse in judgment led to his fourth run-out of the innings. The lower-order batsmen couldn’t contribute much, and the Netherlands were eventually bowled out for a total of 179 runs. Mohammed put on a brilliant bowling display, taking 3 wickets while conceding only 28 runs in 9.3 overs.

Brilliant batting display by Afghanistan

Chasing the target, Rahmanullah Gurbaz once again disappointed by getting out early as he went back to the pavilion on just 10 runs in the 6th over. Ibrahim Zadran’s slow-paced innings came to an end in the 11th over as she was dismissed for 20 runs. And as usual, it was the duo of Rahmat Shah and skipper Hasmatullah Shahidi who took the chase ahead.

Both stitched 74-run stitched for the 3rd wicket with Rahmat hitting another half-century in the tournament. Shahidi also smashed his half-century and took the team to a convincing win by 7 wickets with 18.3 overs to spare.

Here’s how fans reacted:

https://twitter.com/useless_user99/status/1720449559263129879