Afghanistan defeated England by eight runs on Wednesday at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, with Ibrahim Zadran scoring a century and Azmatullah Omarzai taking five wickets. In the ODI World Cup encounter at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, the Afghans defeated England by 69 runs, and this time they sent their opponents packing. Despite Joe Root's 17th ODI century, England was unable to win. After down badly to Temba Bavuma's South Africa by 107 runs, Afghanistan rallied. They will be hoping to secure a semi-final spot in another ICC event after making it to the semifinals of the Men's T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies last year.
Shahidi on clash against Australia
Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi was happy with their team's performance and now have the chance to qualify for the semi-finals. Talking about the Australia game, they are hoping to take the momentum ahead. They are confident but will treat it like a new day.
"As a team we are happy. Our nation will be happy with this win. Moving on to the next game. We beat them first time in 2023. We are improving day by day. Today was a tense game. We controlled it well. I am happy with the result. Zadran is a talented guy. We were three down at the beginning and the pressure was on. The partnership between me and him was crucial. One of the best ODI knocks that I have seen. Azmat played a good knock. Played with positive intent. He bowled crucial overs as well. We have talented youngsters and some senior guys. Everyone knows their role. Everyone is doing good. Hopefully, we will take the momentum to the game versus Australia. It will give us confidence but it will be a new day. That game will decide who will go to the semis. We will do what is good for us on that day," said Shahidi at the post-match presentation.
Afghanistan will now be competing against Australia in their next game. Which has practically turned into a virtual knockout as well. The Asian side has two points after their win over the English team and after their previous game was washed out, the ussies are currently at the second spot in Group B points table with 3 points.
However, there is a very brink chance for Australia to still qualify after losing against Afghanistan but that is if England beat South Africa by some astronomical margin, so their net run rate comes below the Australian team. In one odd scenario, if rain washes out the AUS vs AFG game, Australia will have four points which will send them to the semi-final right away. On the other hand, Afghanistan can also reach the semis if England beat Proteas by a massive margin.