Afghanistan made history after defeating Pakistan in Monday’s game at the World Cup in Chennai.

The afghan side chased the 283-run target on the loss of two wickets with six balls to spare as Pakistani bowlers failed to stop the Afghan batters.

Both Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored fifties giving a 130-run start to the Afghan side.

Zadran remained the highest run-getter, scoring 87 of 113 balls. His opening partner Gurbaz scored 65 off 53 balls.

Rahmat Shah also scored fifty and was unbeaten on 77 off 84 balls.

For Pakistan, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Hasan Ali took one wicket each while the other four bowlers went wicketless.

Pakistan set a target of 283 in Monday’s game against Afghanistan on the back of a late blitz by Iftikhar Ahmed in Chennai.

The Green Shirts put a 282-run total after choosing to bat first in their fifth game of the tournament.

While the scoring rate was less than four in the middle overs as Pakistan kept losing wickets in intervals, late cameo by Iftikhar Ahmed uplifted their run rate.

It was the partnership between Ahmed, Shadab Khan which helped Pakistan reach a respectable total. Ahmed scored 40 off 27 ball powered by four maximums and a couple of fours.

Shadab Khan added 40 to the total having used 38 balls.

The opening pair gave a stable start to the Green Shirts where they managed to add 56 runs in the first 10 overs.

Pakistan were 183 for the loss of four wickets after 38 overs in Monday’s game against Afghanistan in Chinnai as skipper Babar Azam was unbeaten on 55 off 75 balls.

Imam-ul-Haq was the first batter to fall after scoring 17 off 22 balls. His opening partner Abdullah Shafique scored another fifty before falling to Afghan spinner Noor Ahmad on 58.

The pace of Pakistani innings remained slow with the Afghan spinner keeping a tight line and length. The Green Shirts’ scoring rate was around 4.8 runs per over.

Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat in their clash against Afghanistan in Chennai in the ICC World Cup on Monday, with both teams looking to end their losing streak.

Highlights

• Match to be played at M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai at 1:30 pm
• Conditions to be dry, the pitch will have turns
• Defeat of Afghanistan will end the campaign for most purposes

Pakistan enter the game on the back of two successive losses in the tournament against India and Australia.

Although a defeat would not knock Pakistan out of the tournament, it will make things difficult as they have multiple strong opponents remaining.

With the euphoria of a historic win against England two games ago wearing off, Afghanistan will also look to get back on the winning track after a defeat against New Zealand in the last game.

A defeat for Afghanistan, who have lost three out of their four fixtures, will most likely sound an end to their campaign.

Conditions are expected to be hot and dry. Although not a high-scoring venue in this tournament, whoever wins the toss will likely bat first.

Although no major changes are expected, Pakistan might have to make a decision on Usama Mir who had a rough outing in his debut match against Australia.

Squads

Pakistan

1 Abdullah Shafique 2 Imam-ul-Haq 3 Babar Azam (capt) 4 Mohammad Rizwan (wk) 5 Saud Shakeel 6 Shadab Khan 7 Iftikhar Ahmed 8 Usama Mir 9 Hasan Ali 10 Shaheen Shah Afridi 11 Haris Rauf

Afghanistan

1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz 2 Ibrahim Zadran 3 Rahmat Shah 4 Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt) 5 Azmatullah Omarzai 6 Ikram Alikhil (wk) 7 Mohammad Nabi 8 Rashid Khan 9 Mujeeb Ur Rahman 10 Naveen-ul-Haq 11 Noor Ahmad