Chennai (Web Desk): Pakistan set 283-run target for Afghanistan in their fifth match of ICC Men's Cricket World Cup at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Monday.
Earlier, Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat first against Afghanistan and scored 282 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in stipulated 50 overs.
Pakistan have made one change as all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz has been ruled out of the game due to fever. He has been replaced by Shadab Khan, who was rested for Pakistan’s previous match against Australia.
Batting cautiously, both the openers scored 56 runs in 10 overs and Imam-ul-Haq was dismissed for 17 runs off 22 balls with the help of two fours.
Abdullah Shafiq and Babar Azam shared the second wicket to take the team's score to 110 runs in 22 overs, during which Abdullah also completed a half-century.
Muhammad Rizwan also could not stay on the wicket for long and with the help of a 6 scored 8 runs on 10 balls and was dismissed by Noor Ahmed. Pakistan's 3 wickets had fallen to 120 runs.
Following this, Saud Shakeel came to bat and advanced the team's score with Captain Babar, but the two could not aggressively perform on the batting line batting throughout the World Cup.
Saud Shakeel's game was limited to 25 runs from 34 balls with the help of 3 fours and on the last ball of the 34th over he was dismissed by Rashid Khan the on the ball of Mohammad Nabi taking the score to 163 runs.
Skipper Babar Azam completed 30th half-century of his one-day (ODI) career.
Babar's batting was slow, however he led the team's score to double century in 40 overs.
He faced 92 balls and scored 74 runs with the help of 4 fours and a six. Off the final ball of Rashid's eighth over, Babar miscued to long-on, where young Noor dashed in and watched the ball fall agonisingly short as he plucked it on the half-volley.
Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed batted aggressively in the last overs. Both played 40-run innings each and returned to the pavilion in 50 overs. Afghan spinner Noor Ahmed sent three Pakistani batsmen back to the pavilion.
It is very important for Pakistan to win this match as the Green Shirts are currently 5th in the points table and they need to win this match to regain their position in the top 4.
Similarly, it is equally important for Afghanistan to win this match as Afghanistan is at the bottom of the table with two points.
In their World Cup 2023 journey so far, Pakistan defeated the Netherlands by 81 runs in their first match and secured victory against Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in their second match of the event. In their third and fourth matches, Pakistan were defeated by India and Australia by 7 wickets and 62 runs respectively.
On the other hand, in the first match of the event, Afghanistan was defeated by Bangladesh by 6 wickets, while in the second match, faced a defeat by 8 wickets from India in their second match. In the third match, Afghanistan played an amazing innings to defeat England by 69 runs, but in the very next match, the Afghan team suffered a 149-run defeat at the hands of New Zealand.
Pakistan and Afghanistan have faced each other in 7 ODIs so far, all of which have been won by Pakistan.
Playing XI
Pakistan: Abdullah Shafiq, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (captain), Muhammad Rizwan (wicket keeper), Saud Shakeel, Shadab Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Osama Mir, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf.
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Garbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Azmatullah Umarzai, Ikram Ali Khel (wicketkeeper), Muhammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujibur Rahman, Naveen ul Haq, Noor Ahmed.
