Half-centuries from captain Hashmatullah Shahidi (80) and Azmatullah Omarzai (60) helped Afghanistan to a competitive 272/8 against India in an ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 contest at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Afghanistan were struggling at 63/3 in a scratchy start after their skipper opted to bat first on a pitch he predicted to be batting friendly. However, three early wickets and a slow progress meant India took early control of the proceedings before Shahidi and Omarzai began the repair work.
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Afghanistan lost opener Ibrahim Zadran (22) to Jasprit Bumrah in the 7th over with the one that nipped away to kiss the outside edge before nestling into the gloves of wicketkeeper KL Rahul. Bumrah pointed to his head indicating how well thought that dismissal was.
The early jolt gave away a decent partnership of 31 runs for the second wicket before Shardul Thakur took an excellent catch near the boundary as Hardik Pandya got the better of Rahmanullah Gurbaz (21) with a short delivery.
Thakur then trapped Rahmat Shah (16) LBW in the over after the exit of Gurbaz leaving Afghanistan wobbling.
However, Shahidi and Omarzai absorbed the pressure during the early part of their partnership as India spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja rushed through their overs.
Afghanistan made a steady recovery, reaching 100/3 in 24 overs before Omarzai switched gears when he carted Kuldeep for a couple of sixes in three deliveries; over long-on and long-off.
Omarzai reached his half-century with a couple and then his captain chimed in with a four and a six off successive deliveries from Hardik Pandya – the first boundary getting him to his half-century.
The century stand between the two is just the second time that Afghanistan have managed in an ODI World Cup.
At 180/3 after 34 overs on a flat deck, the stage looked set for the Afghans for a big finish and post a sizeable total in the region of 300.
However, Pandya struck to break the partnership when he outfoxed a well-set Omarazi with an off-cutter to have him bowled on 62.
Bumrah than triggered a mini collapse as Afghanistan slipped to 235/7 from 184/3 at one stage.
The lower order though dragged the final total past 250-run mark as Bumrah finished with figures of 4/39 from 10 overs.
It was a forgettable outing for Mohammed Siraj though who leaked 76 runs in seven wicketless overs.
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