Afghanistan pulled off a historic win over England at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on October 15, Sunday to cause World Cup's biggest turnaround. Afghanistan notched their first win over defending champions England across format. Overall this was their second World Cup win as the first victory came against Scotland in 2015.
Who knew a team who lost all of their matches in the 2019 ODI World Cup, will go on to rock the World Champions England someday.
Riding on Rahmanullah Gurbaz's 80 off 57 and Ikram Alikhil's 58 off 66, Afghanistan posted a total of 284 in their stipulated 50 overs. In reply, England batters perished under pressure and were bowled out for just 215 to hand Afghanistan a 69-run victory. Three Afghan spinners, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi combined to dismiss eight wickets to break England's back.
Rashid returned with an impressive bowling figure of 37/3. He also contributed with an instrumental 23 off 22 balls to help Afghanistan post a challenging total.
After the match while speaking with the broadcasters, Rashid dedicated this historic victory to the Afghanistan's earthquake victims.
Rashid Khan said "Cricket is the only source of happiness in Afghanistan, recently there was an Earthquake, many lost everything, this will give them some happiness - this is for them".
According to UN figures, about 1,294 people died, 1,688 were injured so far due to earthquake in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who was adjudged the Player of the Match for his impressive spell of 51/3 also dedicated his award to the earthquake victims. “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. As a spinner, it's pretty hard to bowl in the powerplay, you have only two fielders outside. That's something I've been working in the nets. Bowling with the new ball and trying to be as consistent as possible. That's something which has made me more effective,” Mujeeb said.
“I am always trying to bowl stump to stump and keep it simple. We knew that the dew was going to come and play a part in the latter part. That's why I was telling the captain to bowl me in the powerplay. We were mentally prepared. (On his batting) It's all about the management, the players. They give me confidence in the nets. He has always been with me in the nets, my partner. He wants to hit each and every ball, that's the area I want to contribute as well. Those 20-25 runs means a lot for the team. This trophy is for the people back home who are affected by the earthquake in Herat. This whole win is for them,” Mujeeb added.
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