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Afghans post first World Cup win
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AFGHANISTAN’S remarkable rise continued with a maiden World Cup win as it beat Scotland by one wicket yesterday, while Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara celebrated his 400th one-dayer with a hundred in a 92-run victory over Bangladesh.
It’s a long way, in more than terms of distance, from the ravages of war-torn Afghanistan to Dunedin’s University Oval, but the sedate surroundings ultimately proved a happy hunting ground for the Afghans.
However, Afghanistan, appearing in its first World Cup, looked anything but likely winners as it slumped to 97 for seven in pursuit of a modest victory target of 211. But Samiullah Shenwari had other ideas as the 28-year-old’s breathtaking 96 with seven fours and five sixes took Afghanistan to the brink of a sensational victory.
When he holed out offspinner Majid Haq, Afghanistan still needed 19 more runs off as many balls with just one wicket standing. But the last-wicket duo of Hamid Hassan (15 not out) and Shapoor Zadran (12 not out) held their nerve, with Shapoor looking anything but a No. 11 as he struck the winning boundary off Iain Wardlaw three balls into the last over.
This result, following Ireland’s exciting win over the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday, meant the four non-Test nations taking part had produced the two most exciting finishes of this World Cup — an ideal riposte to the ICC’s proposal to reduce the number of teams involved in the 2019 edition in England from 14 to 10.
“It was difficult because we lost early wickets but I did my job,” said man-of-the-match Shenwari. After he was out, a despairing Shenwari could be seen sitting with his head in his hands. “It was a very poor shot,” he admitted. “I was trying to get another six but it was a very good win for us.”
At the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Tillakaratne Dilshan smashed an unbeaten 161 off 146 balls and Sangakkara marked his 400th one-dayer with a century as Sri Lanka whipped butter-fingered Bangladesh by 92 runs.
Sri Lanka, which was dismissed for 233 by New Zealand and then struggled to chase down Afghanistan’s 232, finally came good with the bat after electing to take first strike.
Dilshan and Sangakkara, who hit 105 not out in his landmark match, lifted the Islanders to a mammoth 332 for one that proved too hot to chase for Bangladesh, which folded up for 240 with three overs to spare.
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