On the incomprehensible pitch of Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium, the Dutch team could not even play the full 50 overs and were reduced to just 179 runs in 46.3 overs. In response, Afghanistan not only registered its third consecutive win in the tournament by losing three wickets in just 31.3 overs but also increased Pakistan's problems by strengthening its claim for the semi-finals.
Thanks to smart fielding and consistent bowling followed by excellent batting, Afghanistan defeated Netherlands in the ICC World Cup match. Afghanistan scored a hat-trick of wins for the first time in the World Cup by defeating Netherlands.
On the difficult pitch of Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium, the Dutch team could not even play the full 50 overs and were restricted to just 179 runs in 46.3 overs. In response, Afghanistan not only registered its third consecutive win in the tournament by losing three wickets in just 31.3 overs, but also increased Pakistan's problems by strengthening its claim to the semi-finals. In the points table, the team has now reached fifth position with eight points, one place above Pakistan.
Afghanistan also did not have a good start and the team lost the wickets of Gurbaz (10) and Ibrahim Zadran (20) on the total score of 52 runs. After this, Rahmat Shah (52) and captain Hashmatullah Shahidi (56 not out) not only made an important partnership of 74 runs for the third wicket but also took the team very close to the target. Azmatullah Omarzai, who came to bat at number five, added 52 runs with Shahidi for the fourth wicket.
The captain gave Afghanistan a spectacular victory by hitting an excellent four over mid-on on the third ball of the 32nd over. Before Afghanistan landed with four spinners, Netherlands captain Scott Edwards failed to understand the number five pitch made of black and red soil. As soon as he won the toss, he decided to bat first.
In fact, Ekana Stadium has also been the home ground of Afghanistan and the team has played three T20 and three ODI matches here before. The Afghan team also benefited from this. Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi, coach Jonathan Trott and mentor Ajay Jadeja were seen standing near the pitch for about 15 minutes during the practice session on Thursday.
The strategy for this match was prepared a day before. This is the reason why the Afghanistan team decided to field with four spinners against the Netherlands. He was also successful in his strategy.
At one time Netherlands had scored 73 runs for two wickets in 11.3 overs. He suffered two consecutive setbacks on the score of 92 runs. The Dutch team came on the backfoot after the dismissal of first Colin Ackerman and then captain Scott Edwards (00). Whereas, Sybrand Engelbrecht (58) remained stuck at one end. Meanwhile, he completed his half-century in 74 balls.
Sybrand faced 85 balls in his fighting innings and hit six fours. On the other hand, the fall of wickets was not stopping. This was the first match of the World Cup in which neither team could hit a single six in 78 overs of play.
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