Pakistan vs Afghanistan LIVE: ICC Cricket World Cup result and reaction as minnows earn surprising win
Afghanistan defeat Pakistan by eight wickets to claim second victory of the tournament
Pakistan’s up-and-down Cricket World Cup campaign continued today as they were beaten by Afghanistan in Chennai. Babar Azam won the toss and elected to bat first but his team failed to assert their dominance on the associate nation.
Afghanistan’s quartet of spin options restricted Pakistan to ones and twos while continuously taking wickets through the middle of the innings. Babar scored a fine 74 and some late innings hitting from Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed took the team to 282-7 at the halfway stage.
It seemed to be a challenging total but the Afghanistan batters made light work of it. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran put on 130 for the first wicket with both openers scoring over 50 before being dismissed. Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi then combined through the middle overs, taking advantage of loose bowling and poor fielding to guide the team over the line with an over to spare.
Relive the updates from Chennai plus get the latest Cricket World Cup odds and tips right here:
Pakistan vs Afghanistan
41.6
Noor Ahmad to Iftikhar Ahmed. Left-Arm Leg Spin length ball, outside off stump on the back foot Steer, to short third man for no runs, fielded by Zadran.
Pakistan vs Afghanistan
41.5
OUT! Caught. Noor Ahmad to Babar Azam. Googly length ball, outside off stump on the back foot cutting, mis-timed in the air uncontrolled to cover, caught by Nabi.
Pakistan vs Afghanistan
41.4
Noor Ahmad to Shadab Khan. Left-Arm Leg Spin length ball, outside off stump on the back foot working, to mid on for 1 run, fielded by Murid.
Pakistan vs Afghanistan
41.3
Noor Ahmad to Babar Azam. Left-Arm Leg Spin back of a length, outside off stump on the back foot pulling, in the air under control to deep mid wicket for 1 run.
Pakistan vs Afghanistan
41.2
Noor Ahmad to Babar Azam. Left-Arm Leg Spin length ball, outside off stump on the back foot working, outside edge to mid wicket for 2 runs, shy attempt by Nabi.
Pakistan vs Afghanistan
41.1
SIX! Noor Ahmad to Babar Azam. Left-Arm Leg Spin length ball, outside off stump on the front foot Slog, well timed in the air under control over long on for 6 runs.
Pakistan vs Afghanistan
40.6
Rashid Khan to Babar Azam. Googly length ball, outside off stump on the front foot Slog, mis-timed in the air uncontrolled to long on for 1 run, fielded by Lakanwal.
Pakistan vs Afghanistan
40.5
Rashid Khan to Babar Azam. Googly length ball, outside off stump on the back foot cutting, to backward point for no runs, fielded by Murid.
Pakistan vs Afghanistan
40.4
Rashid Khan to Shadab Khan. Googly length ball, middle stump on the front foot glancing, to short fine leg for 1 run.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments