Afghanistan registered their first ever victory in a world cup match as they beat Scotland in a tense finish. It was a victory for Afghanistan by 1 wicket with 3 balls remaining to be spared.
Winning the toss Afghanistan decided to bowl first. Scotland despite losing their first wicket in the second made a stable start. However they lost wickets at regular intervals and in the end managed to put a total of 210 for the loss of 10 wickets in full 50 overs. Considering the amount of runs that have been scored in the first innings of the matches that have been played till now, it was a very low. There were number of starts for the Scottish players but no one could convert those into big ones. For Afghanistan Shapoor Zadran picked up 4 wickets while Dawlat Zadran picked up 3. They did a really good job in keeping the target down to 211 in 50 overs and all they needed was a responsible batting.
Coming on to chase Afghanistan made a reasonably good start but somehow they lost their way in the middle. From 42/0 they went down to 97/7 and stared at yet another defeat. But that was not to be. Samiullah Shenwari stood up and played a gem of an innings to take the Afghans close to a historic win. His innings of 96 brought Afghanistan very close to the target. In the end Shapoor Zadran and Hamid Hasan hold their nerves and took Afghanistan over the finishing line with 3 balls to spare. It was a great moment in the history of Afghan cricket- a moment to savour for the Afghans for it was their first victory in a world cup game. Berrington bowled brilliantly for his 4 wickets but it was just not their day. It was the day for the Afghans who announced their arrival for the first time in such a huge stage.
Tags: Afghanistan ICC Cricket World Cup ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 world cup World Cup 2015