03 November,2023 04:09 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Afghanistan cricket team (Pic: AFP)
Afghanistan restricted the Netherlands for 179 runs in Lucknow at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium. Afghanistan players displayed a dominant performance with the ball.
Veteran spinner Mohammad Nabi was successful in dismissing Bas de Leede and Logan van Beek. He did not allow them to settle on the crease. Afghanistan's wicketkeeper Ikram Alikhil ran out the Dutch skipper Scott Edwards for zero runs. Edwards has been a consistent performer for the team in the ICC World Cup 2023 so far but was not able to deliver a performance against Afghanistan.
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After the early scalps of the Netherlands team, Max O'Dowd tried to bring the inning back on track. He scored 42 runs including nine boundaries before getting run out by Azmatullah Omarzai.
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Afghanistan bowlers did not concede many runs, they bowled in the right areas to not allow the Dutch batsman to steal runs. None of the batters were able to score huge runs, but Sybrand Engelbrecht played an innings of a lone warrior. He smashed 58 runs and was standing strong for the Netherlands on the ground before getting run out by Mohammad Nabi.
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Mohammad Nabi delivered an exceptional show with the ball, picked two wickets and ran out the Netherlands set batsman Sybrand Engelbrecht. Accompanying him, Mujeeb Ur Rahman who had one wicket to his name and Noor Ahmad who struck two wickets. Rahman becomes the fourth Afghanistan bowler to claim 100 ODI wickets.
Afghanistan is confidently stepping ahead with the hope of securing its spot in the semi-finals of the ICC World Cup 2023. The Netherlands bowlers need to bowl strategically and stop easy singles if they want to boost their chances in the qualification race for the semi-finals of the ICC World Cup 2023.
Score Summary:
Sybrand Engelbrecht 58 (86)
Max O'Dowd 42 (40)
Colin Ackermann 29 (35)
Mohammad Nabi: Overs bowled (9.3), runs (28), wickets (3)
Mujeeb Ur Rahman: Overs bowled (10), runs (40), wickets (1)
Noor Ahmad: Overs bowled (9), runs (31), wickets (2)
