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Afghanistan clinched their biggest-ever win in world cricket on Sunday as they stunned the defending champions England in the ODI Cricket World Cup 2023. The stunning defeat has put England’s campaign in jeopardy, but at the same time has handed a massive boost to the Afghans.
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Afghanistan batted first in the match and scored 284 with Rahmanullah Gurbaz blasting 80 as England were bowled out on 215 in the 69-run defeat.
Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afghanistan captain, branded the victory as “best win” for the nation and said that it would give them more confidence to the team going forward in the tournament.
“I’m quite happy, all the teammates are happy. This is the best win for us, the confidence will be there for the next game and I’m very proud. The openers get a lot of credit. They gave us a great start but unfortunately we lost back to back wickets in the middle again, lot of credit to the openers though, especially Gurbaz. Ikram was with us for the last 2 years and didn’t get a lot of chances, today I believed in him and gave him a chance and he repaid my faith. Mujeeb batted brilliantly, he led from the front and scored important runs for us,” Shahidi said.
The spinners played a big role in Afghanistan’s victory with Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan picking three wickets each. Shahidi said that the runs on the board allowed the spinners to come into the play and added that Afghanistan will now look for more wins in the World Cup.
Afghanistan vs England: Gurbaz, spinners script an upset for the ages for Afghans
“We have to score runs, our batting lineup needs to score more for our spinners. We have a lot of confidence about our spinners. Fazal started very well, the first wicket gave us a lot of momentum. When I was batting, I realized the wicket wasn’t supportive for batters against spinners. I told the boys that 280-290 will be enough when I got back into the dressing room. I want to say that the belief, trust and talent is there. Last couple of games we didn’t finish well but the belief is there. This is just the first win, we are looking for more in the tournament. This was just the first one, not the last one,” he said.
Player of the match Mujeeb Ur Rahman dedicated the victory to the people back home in Afghanistan who are suffering due to three earthquakes in a week.
“Very proud moment to be here in the World Cup and beating the champions. It’s a great achievement for the whole team, we worked hard for this day. We beat such a big team. It was a wonderful performance from the bowlers and the batters… This victory is for the people back home who are affected by the earthquake in Herat. This whole win is for them,” he said.
This was Afghanistan’s first victory at ODI World Cups since beating Scotland in 2015. It is also their second win overall win in ODI World Cups.
They next face New Zealand in Chennai on 18 October.
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