Afghanistan gave a tough fight to South Africa but lost the game by 5 wickets to bow out of the ICC World Cup 2023. Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi rued his team’s 3-wicket defeat against Australia in the previous game.

Afghanistan were in the game with Australia 91/7 but gave two lifelines to Glenn Maxwell, who single-handedly won the game for his side. He slammed an unbeaten 201 runs off 128 balls, laced with 21 fours and 10 sixes to take the five-time champions to the semis.

Had they beaten the Aussies, Afghanistan would have had a chance to make it to the knockouts, but it derailed their momentum.

“I am still in shock of Glenn Maxwell’s innings against us. I was shocked to see what he did against us the other night at the Wankhede Stadium,” he said after the contest against South Africa.

Afghanistan’s campaign ended with five defeats and four wins. They thumped three former champions – England, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

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Pakistan are almost out of the ICC World Cup 2023 semi-final race after New Zealand defeated Sri Lanka in a record time. The Men in Green were backing Sri Lanka to stun the Kiwis and also praying for the rain, but everything went differently.

Former captain Wasim Akram, who has been in the news for his blunt responses in the ongoing global event, jokingly said that Babar Azam’s team can still qualify for the semis if they lock the England team in the dressing room.

“Pakistan should bat first against England and post runs, then lock the England team in the dressing room and get them timed out,” he said on A Sports.

The sub-continent nation has themselves to blame as they surrendered the advantage after winning two games on the trot. After facing a humiliating defeat against India, they couldn’t recover, and the shocking thumping by Afghanistan sealed their fate.

The batting and bowling units have been largely disappointing, with captain Babar failing on all counts. The pace duo of Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf were off-color in important matches, while spinners never turned up for the team.

Pakistan will play for pride against the Jos Buttler-led team. On the other hand, England will be eyeing a win as they are looking to consolidate their place in the points table to qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy.

According to the new rules introduced by the International Cricket Council, the top seven teams in the World Cup points table will make it to the prestigious event with host nation Pakistan.

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Netherlands managed just 179 while chasing 340 runs against England in the ICC World Cup 2023.

They have lost seven games, with just one win coming against South Africa at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium.

Scott Edwards-led side will face undefeated and table toppers India in the final contest in Bengaluru. Scott is looking forward to the game.

He spoke to Nasser Hussain after the game against Jos Buttler’s team in Pune.

“It is a massive game for us and the players are looking forward to it,” he said.

Scott was disappointed with the performances of batters and bowlers against England.

“We didn’t bat and bowl properly and paid the price.”

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Former Pakistan player and one of the greatest fast bowlers, Waqar Younis, took to social media to opine on Glenn Maxwell’s carnage against Afghanistan in the ICC World Cup 2023.

Waqar, who is in India as a commentator for the ongoing tournament, predicted that it would be hard to witness something of that magnitude again in the future.

Maxwell rode on drop chances to slam a double hundred and take Australia into the semis. It was single-handed brutal hitting from one of the most powerful hitters of the cricket ball in the world.

With 91/7 at one stage, Australia were on the brink of a shocking defeat. But Glenn turned up the heat on the bowlers and hit 21 fours and 10 sixes in a display of sensational hitting at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

“Maxwell proper slaughtering last evening @Gmaxi_32. Simply outstanding. Will be hard to witness any thing like this in the future,” Waqar Younis wrote.

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Shoaib Akhtar lauded Glenn Maxwell for his unbelievable innings against Afghanistan in the ICC World Cup 2023. The right-handed batter hit the first double-hundred in the ongoing tournament to take Australia to the semi-finals.

He was unbeaten on 201 runs as the Aussies won the contest by 3 wickets.

Chasing 292, the Pat Cummins-led team was 7 down with not even 100 runs on the board. Maxwell and Cummins came together to stitch a big partnership for the Yellow Army.

Maxwell hit 21 fours and 10 sixes at the Wankhede Stadium.

“His two catches were dropped but he played a special knock. I haven’t seen anything like that before in my life. He could have retired hurt or given up but patriotism drived him as he wanted to win the game for his country,” Shoaib Akhtar said.

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Pakistan stunned New Zealand by 21 runs via the DLS method in one of the best ODI World Cup matches filled with runs and rain in the second half. New Zealand mustered 401/6 in 50 overs with major knocks from Rachin Ravindra and Kane Williamson. Pakistan bowlers were under the cosh at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Pakistan had a mountain to climb, and not many thought they could spring a surprise. 

However, Pakistan stayed ahead in terms of runs in the DLS method. Pakistan saw Fakhar Zaman go berserk as the team put up 200/1 in 25.2 overs. Pakistan’s win saw South Africa qualify for the semi-finals. Fakhar scored a majestic ton, with Babar Azam managing a fifty. 

Here are the major records broken.

New Zealand post their highest World Cup score

New Zealand’s 401/6 is their highest ODI World Cup score. NZ beat their previous total of 393/6 versus West Indies in Wellington. It was also their fifth score of 350-plus in the mega event. Meanwhile, before this, NZ’s best World Cup score versus Pakistan was 302/7 in 2011. 

Highest ODI score against Pakistan for NZ, 2nd-highest score overall

NZ posted their highest ODI score against Pakistan. NZ’s previous best score was 369/5 in 2015. Overall, NZ also posted their second-highest ODI total. NZ’s best ODI score is 402/2 versus Ireland in 2008.

Pakistan concede 400 runs for the 2nd time

Pakistan scripted an unwanted record of giving away 400-plus runs in an ODI match for the second time. NZ gave away 444 runs against England in 2016. 

Highest total at the Chinnaswamy

Another record for NZ was that of posting the highest ODI score at the Chinnaswamy. NZ went past India’s score of 383/6 versus Australia in 2013.

Unwanted records for Shaheen

Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi recorded the worst spell in terms of conceding runs in a World Cup innings for Pakistan. He gave away 90 runs. Meanwhile, for the first time in 24 matches, Shaheen went wicketless in an ODI match. Fellow pacer Haris Rauf also posted the second-costliest spell in an ODI WC match for Pakistan (1/85).

Ravindra becomes second player with 500-plus runs in WC 2023

Ravindra smashed a fluent 94-ball 108 for the Kiwis. He slammed his 3rd century in the ongoing World Cup. He is now the second player after Quinton de Kock to score 500-plus runs in World Cup 2023. Ravindra has amassed 74.71. He has two fifties as well. 

Ravindra equals Crowe and Styris

Ravindra now has five 50-plus scores in the ongoing event, the joint-most for a Kiwi batter in a WC edition (100s: 3, 50s: 2). He has joined Martin Crowe (1992) and Scott Styris (2007).

Unique records for Ravindra 

At 23 years and 351 days, Ravindra is now the youngest to smash three tons in an ODI World Cup. He is also the first player to smash three hundreds in his debut World Cup. Lastly, he is the first Kiwi to score 3 hundreds in any World Cup campaign.

Williamson goes past 1000 World Cup runs

Williamson showed his prowess with a solid 79-ball 95. He hit 10 fours and two sixes. Williamson is now the third NZ player to score 1000-plus runs in the ODI World Cup. He joined Stephen Fleming and Ross Taylor. He has five fifties and two tons.

Highest scorer for NZ in ODI World Cups

With his 95-run knock, Williamson also became the top scorer for NZ in ODI World Cups. He surpassed Fleming, who managed 1075 runs. Williamson has raced to 1084 runs at 63.76 in ODI WCs.

1000 runs in 2023 for Daryl Mitchell

NZ’s Daryl Mitchell went on to go past 1000 ODI runs in 2023. Mitchell has raced to 1027 runs from 24 matches this year. He is the first Kiwi to achieve this milestone. 

Babar goes past 1000 ODI runs in 2023

Babar Azam scored a valiant 66* from 63 balls. His effort helped Pakistan big. Babar is now the first player from Pakistan to smash 1000 ODI runs in 2023. He has raced to 1027 runs, becoming the seventh player overall this year to get to the feat.

Record stand for Babar and Fakhar

Babar and Fakhar registered an unbeaten 194-run stand for the second wicket. As per ESPNcricinfo, this is Pakistan’s joint-highest stand in World Cup history. In the 1999 event, Saeed Anwar and Wajahatullah Wasti also added as many runs against New Zealand.

Another massive partnership record for the duo

Fakhar and Babar’s stand is now the 3rd-highest for Pakistan versus New Zealand in ODI matches (any wicket). It’s also the 2nd-highest stand for the second wicket for Pakistan against New Zealand. 

Fastest ODI WC ton for Pakistan by Fakhar; most sixes in a match

Fakhar completed his century off just 63 balls, recording the fastest World Cup ton by a Pakistan batter. Fakhar hammered 11 maximums en route to his 126* versus NZ. As per Cricbuzz, no other Pakistan batter has hammered more sixes in an ODI WC match. He went past Imran Nazir, who hammered eight sixes against Zimbabwe in the 2007 WC.

Fourth player with this WC record

Fakhar is now the fourth player in ODI World Cup history to smash 10-plus sixes in a match. His 11 sixes saw him equal Martin Guptill. Eoin Morgan and Chris Gayle have smashed the most sixes (17 and 16).

Most sixes for Pakistan in a World Cup edition

Fakhar has raced to 18 sixes in the ongoing World Cup. He is the first Pakistan player with 10-plus sixes in a World Cup edition. 

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BENGALURU, India (AP) — Rachin Ravindra and Kane Williamson took on Pakistan’s four-pronged pace attack led by the expensive Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf, and also didn’t spare the two part-time spinners.

Afridi, who recently rose to No. 1 in the ODI rankings, recorded Pakistan’s worst-ever bowling figures of 0-90 in a World Cup. Rauf was not far behind, ending up with 1-85. Hasan Ali (1-82), who came into the side in place of leg-spinner Usama Mir, also went for plenty.

Ravindra combined with Williamson for a 180-run partnership off 142 balls.

Both batters fell in successive overs, looking for big hits, but New Zealand’s middle-order kept on pushing with Glenn Phillips (41), Mark Chapman (39) and Daryl Mitchell (29) scoring at a rapid pace before Mitchell Santner’s 17-ball 26 not out led the team past 400.

“Quite hard to get our heads around this after getting that total,” said Williamson, back leading the side after fracturing his thumb against Bangladesh. “They (Pakistan) played exceptionally well, gave themselves every chance and got over the line … Zaman played beautifully (and) they deserved that result today.”

In the later game at Ahmedabad, Australia made 286 all out against England. Marnus Labuschagne hit 71 off 83 balls while Cameron Green (47) and Steve Smith (44) made useful contributions.

Chris Woakes, who picked up the wickets of Travis Head and David Warner inside the batting powerplay, took 4-54. Mark Wood (2-70) again finished with expensive figures.

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Pakistan defeated New Zealand by 21 runs on the DLS method after rain stopped play for the second time. The Men in Green were chasing 402 runs in 50 overs, with Fakhar Zaman going after the Kiwis.

He slammed a scintillating hundred off 63 balls laced with 9 sixes and 7 fours to keep his team ahead on the DLS method. The sub-continent team was ahead by 10 runs when the rain halted the game for the first time.

Babar Azam’s team was on 161/1 in 21.3 overs. When the downpour stopped, the target was revised to 342 runs in 41 overs.

Pakistan again came out in an attacking mode and took the score to 200/1 in 25.3 overs when the heavy rain stopped the proceedings.

Fakhar was unbeaten on 126 runs off 81 balls, laced with 11 sixes and 8 fours.

On the other hand, Babar was unbeaten on 66 runs off 63 balls, including 6 fours and 2 sixes.

Earlier, Pakistan won the toss and elected to bowl first, which backfired badly.

Rachin Ravindra slammed his third hundred of the ICC World Cup 2023, with 108 runs coming off 94 balls.

Captain Kane Williamson accumulated 95 runs off 79 balls to take New Zealand to 401/7 in 50 overs.

Pakistan and New Zealand are on 8 points from eight games.

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Fakhar Zaman came out firing all cylinders while chasing 402 against New Zealand in the ICC World Cup 2023. He slammed a well compiled hundred off 63 balls, laced with 9 sixes and 6 fours.

Zaman added 100 runs with captain Babar Azam in Bengaluru. Earlier, the Kiwis slammed 401 in 50 overs.

Rachin Ravindra hit his third hundred of the tournament, becoming the second player after Quinton de Kock to achieve the landmark.

Kane Williamson, who returned to the Playing XI after missing a couple of games, accumulated 95 runs.

The added more than 150 runs for the side and the final touches were given by Glenn Phillips (41), Mark Chapman (39), Daryl Mitchell (25) and Mitchell Santner (26).

Mohammad Wasim Jr took three wickets and conceded 60 runs.

Shaheen Afridi bowled the most expensive spell by a Pakistani bowler in the history of the World Cup. He gave away 90 runs without taking a wicket.

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Rachin Ravindra slammed his third hundred of the ICC World Cup 2023 in the game against Pakistan in Bengaluru.

The southpaw was impressive from the first ball of the contest and went past legendary Sachin Tendulkar on the list of most World Cup tons before turning 25.

While Sachin had recorded two centuries, Rachin accumulated three in his career.

New Zealand opener departed after scoring 108 runs off 94 balls, laced with 15 fours and 1 six.

Saud Shakeel caught him on the ball of Mohammad Wasim Jr. He shared a partnership of more than 150 runs with captain Kane Williamson, who struck 95 runs off 79 balls, including 10 fours and 2 with sixes.

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