After beating England earlier in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, Afghanistan have earned another major win in the ongoing 2023 edition. The Afghans have stunned Pakistan to earn another massive victory in their World Cup history and ODI cricket in general. Pakistan managed 282/7 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, riding on a classy 74 from the blade of skipper Babar Azam. Abdullah Shafique scored a fifty as well. For the Afghans, Noor Ahmad claimed 3/49.
In response, a sturdy effort with the bat helped Afghanistan chase down the target in style. Rahmaullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, and Rahmat Shah clocked stunning fifties. Afghanistan have now claimed their second win of the World Cup 2023 campaign, throwing themselves in the mix to end the tournament on a strong note. For Pakistan, this will be a bitter pill to swallow. This was a shocking defeat. Here, we present the list of major records broken in the contest.
Afghanistan’s top three batters script these records
Afghanistan’s top three batters slammed fifties in the match versus Pakistan, as mentioned before. Gurbaz scored 65, Zadran smoked 87, and Shah scored an unbeaten 77. For the second time in their ODI history, the Afghans have witnessed the top three batters scoring fifties. Earlier, they recorded the same against Sri Lanka in 2022.
Meanwhile, this is the first time two Afghan openers have scored fifty in an innings for the first time in ODI World Cup history.
Highest target chased down by the Afghans in ODI history
As per Cricbuzz, Afghanistan have now chased down their highest target in ODI history. Their previous best chase in ODIs was 274 versus the UAE in 2014. Afghanistan have also chased the highest total versus Pakistan in World Cup history. They broke the 274-run record held by India in the 2003 edition. Meanwhile, Pakistan have suffered their maiden defeat at the World Cup while defending a 275-plus total.
3rd win for Afghanistan in World Cup history
Playing just their 20th match in the Cricket World Cup, the Afghans picked up their 3rd win ever. Afghanistan’s two other wins at the World Cup before this were against Scotland in the 2015 edition, when they won by one wicket and against the Englishmen earlier in the 2023 edition. Notably, Afghanistan lost all of their nine games in the 2019 edition and suffered a defeat versus Pakistan in the 2019 edition.
Maiden win for Afghanistan over Pakistan
Afghanistan claimed their maiden ODI win over Pakistan. Before this, the two teams met on 7 occasions across ODI tournaments. Pakistan had won all their seven matches.
Second-highest ODI score against Pakistan and second-best score in the WC
As per ESPNcricinfo, Afghanistan posted their second-highest team total in ODIs versus Pakistan. Their previous best score was 300/5 in Hambantota in August 2023. Meanwhile, Afghanistan also posted their second-best score in ODI World Cups. Their previous best score was 288/10 against West Indies in 2019. Afghanistan broke their 284-run score against England earlier in the 2023 World Cup.
Record World Cup and ODI stands for the Afghans
Gurbaz and Zadran added 130 runs for the first wicket against Pakistan. This is Afghanistan’s best 1st-wicket stand in ODI World Cup history. Rahmat and Hashmatullah Shahidi added 96* runs for the third wicket. This is now Afghanistan’s best effort for the third wicket. Meanwhile, Gurbaz and Zadran posted the second-best 1st wicket stand against Pakistan in ODIs.
Zadran and Gurbaz now have four 100-plus stands in ODIs, which is the joint-best tally for an Afghan pair. Meanwhile, their 130-run stand is also the second-best partnership for any wicket in the World Cup for Afghanistan.
Fastest to 1000 ODI runs for the Afghans
Zadran scored 87 from 113 balls. He slammed 10 fours. He completed 1000 ODI runs for Afghanistan. He now has 1084 runs at 49.27. He is also the fastest Afghan batter to 1000 ODI runs (24 innings). He also equalled the likes of Virat Kohli and Hashim Amla in terms of taking 24 innings to 1000 runs in ODIs. Notably, Zadran broke the previous record of Gurbaz, who took 27 innings to get to 1000 runs.
2000 List A runs for Zadran
Meanwhile, Zadran has also gone past 2000 runs in List A cricket. He needed 44 runs in the contest to achieve the milestone. He slammed his 8th fifty in the format and has raced to 200-plus fours.
38 overs of spin for Afghanistan and 59 in the match
For the second time in World Cup history, Afghanistan bowled 38 overs of spin in a match. For the second time, they have done so against Pakistan (also in the 2019 WC). Notably, 39.0 – UAE vs NZ, Faisalabad, 1996 and 39.0 – ZIM vs AUS, Ahmedabad, 2011 have had more overs of spin by the side in a World Cup match. Also, the match saw 59 overs of spin, which is the joint second-highest in World Cup history.
5500 ODI runs for Babar, 500 fours
Babar slammed 74 runs today versus the Afghans. He now has 5566 runs in ODI cricket. He is the 12th Pakistani batter to slam 5500-plus runs. Babar also achieved another record in ODIs. He has gone past 500 fours. Babar now owns 30 fifties in ODIs.
Rahmat Shah clocks this record
Afghanistan’s top scorer in ODIs, Rahmat, showed his mettle with the bat. Rahmat, who owns 3419 runs in ODIs, became the first Afghan to smash 400-plus runs in ODI World Cup history. He has 404 ODI runs under his belt.