Afghanistan vs Pakistan, World Cup 2023: Gurbaz-Zadran opening stand, Noor's spell and other key moments

A little over a week after their giant-killing act against England in Delhi, which at the time was being described as their greatest cricketing victory ever, Afghanistan pulled off another incredible feat by outplaying Pakistan to record their second win of the 2023 ICC World Cup.

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Both teams had entered the 22nd match of the ongoing World Cup on the back of defeats, with Afghanistan having been routed by 149 runs by New Zealand after their victory over England and Pakistan suffering consecutive losses against India and Australia.

Afghanistan, however, managed to put the lopsided defeat against the Black Caps behind to register one of their most dominant performances against a Full Member nation.

Given their bitter cricketing rivalry against Pakistan and the fact that they hadn’t beaten their neighbours to the east in seven previous ODI meetings, the eight-wicket victory against Pakistan on Monday might just trump their 69-run win over England last week.

Looking back at the events of the classic encounter at Chepauk, we bring to you five of the key developments from the match:

Abdullah Shafique gets Pakistan off to an ideal start

Abdullah Shafique certainly has been one of Pakistan’s success stories in the ongoing World Cup and he has cemented his place at the top of their batting order ever since the team management decided to drop Fakhar Zaman.

Pakistan opener Abdullah Shafique brought up his third fifty-plus score in four outings since replacing Fakhar Zaman as Imam-ul-Haq’s opening partner. AP

Shafique slammed his third fifty-plus score in four outings after Pakistan skipper Babar Azam opted to bat against the Afghans at Chepauk, scoring a 75-ball 58 that contained five-fours and two sixes, stitching fifty-plus stands with opening partner Imam-ul-Haq as well as Babar.

Noor Ahmad turns the game around with key wickets

The Afghans decided to play an extra spinner on a conducive Chepauk wicket, bringing in Noor Ahmad in place of left-arm seamer Fazalhaq Farooqi. A decision that would later prove to be a game-changer.

Noor had already impressed for the Gujarat Titans in the IPL but didn’t quite have as much of an impact in the international arena in the three ODIs and one T20I he had appeared in before Monday’s fixture. Against Pakistan, however, the left-arm wrist spinner produced one of the most defining spells of his career so far in which he removed the well set Shafique (58) and Babar (74) before getting rid of Mohammad Rizwan (8) early in the innings.

He finished the pick of the Afghan bowlers with 3/49 from 10, and his spell was instrumental in denying Pakistan a total in excess of 300 that they were quite sure of at one stage.

Iftikhar, Shadab cameos help Pakistan cross 280

Noor’s spell, in fact, could have restricted Pakistan to a score in the range of 250-260. That they ended up with a respectable total in excess of 280 was largely down to handy contributions from Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed in the middle order, both scoring 40 each off 38 and 27 deliveries respectively.

Iftikhar, in particular, highlighted his ability to go hammer-and-tong in the slog overs by smashing two fours and four sixes, one of which came in Rashid Khan’s final over.

Gurbaz and Zadran lead the way with a big opening stand

Rahmanullah Gurbaz has been Afghanistan’s standout performer with the bat so far in their World Cup campaign while opening partner Ibrahim Zadran was due a big score after getting off to promising starts more often than not. Despite posting 282 on the board, Pakistan needed an early wicket or two, preferably that of Gurbaz, to set panic among the Afghan batters.

Gurbaz, however, gave the Pakistanis a glimpse of what was to come later in the evening by dispatching Shaheen Afridi for a four off the very first delivery of Afghanistan’s chase. The pair would not only go through the opening powerplay unscathed by adding 60 runs to the board, their opening partnership would eventually be worth a sizeable 130 — one that laid the foundation of the improbable victory.

Both Gurbaz (65) and Zadran (87) would bring up their half-centuries along the way, the latter top-scoring for the Afghans.

Rahmat Shah takes over, guides Afghans home

Afridi eventually managed to offer the Pakistanis a ray of hope by getting Gurbaz dismissed at the start of his new spell, inducing a thick top-edge off an attempted pull towards third man. All-rounder Rahmat Shah, who has over a hundred ODI appearances to his credit in a career spanning a decade, settled in right away after coming in at No 3 and forged a 60-run partnership with Zadran for the second wicket.

Rahman Shah remained unbeaten on 77 in 84 deliveries, guiding Afghanistan to an eight-wicket victory over Pakistan with an over to spare. AP

Rahmat then took charge of the Afghan chase after Zadran was caught-behind off Hasan Ali’s bowling just 13 short of what would have been his maiden hundred at the showpiece event. The Afghan No 3 would find ideal support at the other end from skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi (48 not out) as the pair stitched an unbroken 93-run partnership for the third wicket that would seal the game in their favour.

The highlight of this partnership was Rahmat and Shahidi’s running between the wickets that constantly kept the Pakistanis under pressure and eventually forced more mistakes.