(Cricket News) Afghanistan continues to win the hearts of fans in this World Cup with an impressive 7-wicket victory over the Netherlands. After collecting wins from England, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and the Netherlands, fans realized that Afghanistan is not too far away from qualifying for the semi-finals. This will be the first time Afghanistan reaches the semi-finals of any ICC event.
Netherlands won the toss and chose to bat. This proved to be a poor decision for the Dutch, as they lost a wicket in the very first over to Mujeeb ur Rahman. After this wicket, valuable contributions from Max ODowd, Ackermann, and Sybrand Engelbrecht. However, poor running between the wickets from the Dutch batsman saw them lose four consecutive wickets from runouts. After that disaster, the Dutch couldn’t get any momentum going as Mohammad Nabi and Noor Ahmad ran through the middle and lower orders. The Netherlands were dismissed for 179.
End of first innings: Netherlands: 179-10. Sybrand Engelbrecht 58 (86); Max ODowd 42 (40); Mohammad Nabi 9.3-28-1-3; Noor Ahmad 9-31-0-2.
The Netherlands had a good start to their bowling innings, dismissing the openers early. But since their target was small, it was too difficult to contain. Fifties from Rahmat Shah and Hasmutullah Shahidi guided Afghanistan to victory as they chased down the target in 31.3 overs.
End of second innings: Netherlands 181-3; Rahmat Shah 52 (54); 56 (64); Logan van Beek 7-30-0-1; van der Merwe 5-27-0-1.
