Afghanistan continues its dream run in the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 with a thumping victory against the Netherlands on Friday. Chasing the below-par target of 180 runs, Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi scored brilliant half centuries guiding the Afghans to a 7 wickket victory. Afghanistan chased down the total in 31.3 overs. Afghans went past Pakistan to claim the fifth spot in the points table after winning 4 matches out of 7.𝐀𝐅𝐆𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍 𝐖𝐈𝐍! 🙌#AfghanAtalan, led by half-centuries from the skipper @Hashmat_50 (56*) and @RahmatShah_08 (52), successfully chased down the target by 7 wickets to register 4th victory at the ICC #CWC23. 👍Well done Atalano! 👏#AFGvNED | #WarzaMaidanGata pic.twitter.com/zNLiW1Fakx— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) November 3, 2023Netherlands posts 179Earlier in the innings, Netherlands skipper Scott Edwards won the toss and decided to bat first in the 34th match of the tournament. Mujeeb Ur Rahman injects the first blow by removing Wesley Barresi in the very first over of the innings. Max ODowd and Colin Ackermann added 69 runs in 63 deliveries for the second wicket. Azmatullah Omarzais brilliant throw ended the partnership by dismissing Max ODowd, who scored 42 runs off 40 deliveries including 9 boundaries. Despite a good start Dutch lose ground in the middle overs forced by four runouts. Taking a dramatic turn the Dutch lost 5 wickets in 40 runs. Three dismissals came in the form of run-outs while the other two dismissals were caught behind, pushing the Netherlands into an unstable situation. However, Afghanistan had the chance to close the game down there itself but Engelbrecht was dropped twice off successive deliveries.Engelbrecht scores fiftySybrand Engelbrecht fought hard and went past his fifty but another error in judgment and was involved in the fourth runout of the innings. He scored 58 off 86 deliveries including 6 boundaries. The tailenders didnt contribute much and the Netherlands was bundled out for 179. Four spinners for Afghanistan displayed brilliant performances with Nabi claiming three wickets while Noor scalped two.
