ODI World Cup 2023 Cricket News

‘Aaj Dance nahi aaya ‘ – Fans react as Afghanistan beat Netherlands by 7 wickets in ODI World Cup 2023

Afghanistan won their fourth game of the ODI World Cup 2023 after beating the Netherlands by seven wickets to move to the fifth spot in the ODI World Cup 2023 table in Lucknow on Friday.

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Sarah Andrew
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AFG vs NED (Source-Twitter)

The race for the top four spots in the ODI World Cup 2023 is heating up. Afghanistan won their fourth game of the tournament by beating the Netherlands on Friday in Lucknow. With this win, Afghanistan have now gone to fifth in the table level on points with Australia and New Zealand only separated by run rate. 

Coming into the game the Dutch team had beaten Bangladesh in Kolkata on Saturday. The Afghanistan side on the other hand had beaten Sri Lanka quite easily in their game in Pune on Monday.

Scott Edwards won the toss and had no hesitation in choosing to bat first. Both sides made one change each as Vikramjit Singh was replaced by Zulfikar Saqib. Noor Ahmed came into the Afghanistan side to replace pacer Naveen Ul Haq. 

Afghanistan registers an easy win over the Netherlands

Batting first after winning the toss, the Netherlands side were bowled out for just 179 runs in the 47th over. Wesley Baressi fell early when he was out for one LBW to Mujeeb Ur Rahman. Max O'Dowd and Colin Ackermann then added 70 runs for the 2nd wicket in just 63 balls.

The turning point in the game occurred when Max O Dowd was run out for 42 thanks to a superb throw from Azmatullah Omarzai. Colin Ackermann was also run out for 29 and Scott Edwards the very next ball for a duck. Mohammed Nabi and Noor Ahmed then ran through the Dutch middle order to leave the men in orange struggling.

Sybrand Engelbrecht top scored for the Dutch side with 58 runs off 86 balls with 6 fours. The right-handed batter became the third batter to be run out in the Dutch innings. Mohammad Nabi was the top wicket-taker with 3/28 from his 9.3 overs of spin. 

Chasing 180 for a win, the Afghanistan side lost Rahmanullah Gurbaz early for 10. Ibrahim Zadran was bowled by Roelof Van Der Merwe for 20 to leave the Afghans at 55/2. Rahmat Shah and Hasmatullah Shahidi then arrested the slide with a 74-run stand for the 3rd wicket.

Rahmat Shah was out after scoring 52 off 54 balls, the skipper Hasmatullah Shahidi kept his good form going with the bat by scoring his 3rd half-century of the tournament. The win came when Shahidi hit a four to win the fourth game of the ODI World Cup 2023. 

Here’s how the fans reacted: