ICC CWC: Afghanistan stun Pakistan, wins match by 8 wickets

CHENNAI: Afghanistan has made it their routine to cook up shockin results as half-centuries by Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmat Shah helped them beat Pakistan by eight wickets at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here on Monday.

Opener Gurbaz hit a 53-ball 65 while his partner Zadran anchored the innings with a 113-ball 87 as they raised 130 runs for the first wicket. Rahmat Shah, who scored an unbeaten 77 off 84 deliveries and shared an unbeaten 86-run partnership for the third wicket with skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi (48 not out), played a key role to take Afghanistan to 286/2 in 49 overs after restricting Pakistan to 282/7 in 50 overs.

This is Afghanistan's second upset in this tournament after they stunned defending champions England by 69 runs a few days back. This was their highest-ever chase in ODI history.

This is Afghanistan's second win in five matches in this event and takes them to four points, the same as Australia and Pakistan. However, Australia are in fourth position on better Net Run Rate while Pakistan are fifth, leaving Afghanistan occupying the sixth position among 10 teams.

Opting to bat first, Pakistan were restricted to 282/7 in their 50 overs thanks mainly to a 92-ball 74 by skipper Babar Azam and a 75-ball 58 by opener Abdullah Shafique.

Left-arm spinner Noor Ahmad claimed 3-49 off his 10 overs while pacer Naveen-ul-Haq bagged 2-52 off seven but it was spinners Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan who applied the brakes on the Pakistan innings in the middle overs.

This is Pakistan's third defeat in five matches in this World Cup.