Netherlands won the toss and opted to bat first in the match against Afghanistan. They got off to a disappointing start as Wesley Barresi (1) was trapped leg before by Mujeeb Ur Rahman in the first over of the match. Max O’Dowd (42 off 40) and Colin Ackermann (29 off 35) added 70 runs for the second wicket to give the Dutch a lift.
The batting side, however, committed hara-kiri, gifting four wickets to run outs and allowing Afghanistan to claw back in the game. O’Dowd was run out by a brilliant direct hit from Azmatullah Omarzai, attempting a tight second run. Ackermann paid the price for a poor piece of judgment from Sybrand Engelbrecht (58 off 86) and was caught way short of the crease.
Disaster struck for Netherlands when skipper Scott Edwards (0) missed his sweep and lost his balance while trying to hit Mohammed Nabi (3/28). He was smartly run out by wicket-keeper Ikram Alikhil. The Dutch had lost half their side before they could reach 100 as Bas de Leede (3) was caught behind off Nabi.
The lower order could not contribute much and Engelbrecht’s effort ended when he too was run out in the 35th over of Netherlands’ innings. They Dutch side eventually folded up for 179 in 46.3 overs.
Chasing 180 to complete a hat-trick of wins in the 2023 World Cup, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (10) was caught down leg off Logan van Beek’s bowling. Ibrahim Zadran (20) was then knocked over by Roelof van der Merwe. However, Rahmat Shah (52 off 54) and skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi (56 not out off 64) starred in yet another chase, adding 74 runs for the third wicket.
Rahmat hit eight fours before chipping a return catch to Saqib Zulfiqar. Shahidi and Omarzai (31 not out off 28) then added an unbroken 52 runs for the fourth wicket to lift Afghanistan to yet another impressive win.
--By A Cricket Correspondent
