Afghanistan's consistent World Cup 2023 journey continued with a triumph over Sri Lanka, prompting head coach Jonathan Trott to urge the team's batters to start aiming to score centuries. Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, and Azmatullah Omarzai's notable contributions propelled Afghanistan to a convincing victory, chasing down 242 runs with 28 balls to spare.
Trott emphasised the necessity for Afghan batters to assume responsibility and convert their promising starts into hundred-run achievements. Recognizing the absence of a century scorer thus far, he emphasised the critical role of players persisting at the crease and achieving this milestone, highlighting the importance of middle-order batters in this endeavour.
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"Nobody's got 100 yet, so that's the next challenge. Someone accepting responsibility and batting for a longer period of time and making sure we get 100s. We see a lot of 100s scored in the tournament. That's the next frontier, the next barrack. Gurbaz has scored a few 100s recently and Ibrahim, it's about the middle order, 3, 4, 5, 6, being able to score hundreds as well," he said.
"So that's the next challenge. And I have absolutely no doubt that the players will be able to in the future. And hopefully, it starts in the next game," Trott was quoted as saying in the post-match press conference.
Expressing his satisfaction with the team's progress, Trott commended their diligent efforts and adherence to fundamental cricket training principles. "I think we've been working really hard at our batting and doing the basics. I know it's very cliche, but the way that we train, the way we think about our cricket, certainly with batting, the way that we accept responsibility at times as well, I think you're starting to see hopefully not the penny drop, but we're starting to see also the confidence in the players, in their own ability," he added.
With this victory, Shahidi's team climbed to the fifth spot in the World Cup 2023 standings, accumulating six points and a net run rate of -0.718, courtesy of their success in three out of six matches. Their upcoming challenge is a clash against the Netherlands, led by Scott Edwards, scheduled for November 3 at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.
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