BackHistoric first win for Afghanistan at World Cup 2015
Shapoor Zadran hit the winning runs to give Afghanistan its first victory at its inaugural World Cup
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Shapoor Zadran hit the winning runs to give Afghanistan its first victory at its inaugural Cricket World Cup and followed it up by running around with his arms outstretched in wild celebration.
Then, as if the reality of the feat sank in for him and some of his teammates, many who learned cricket while growing up in refugee camps in Pakistan due to years of war in their homeland, he fell to the ground, overcome with emotion.
It was a scene repeated often in the ensuing minutes after Afghanistan clinched a one-wicket win Thursday over Scotland with three balls remaining in its 50 overs. University Oval in Dunedin, New Zealand was the location, and it will forever hold a special place in the history of the sport in Afghanistan and the World Cup.
Samuillah Shenwari scored 96 runs to bat Afghanistan close to victory as it chased Scotland’s 210, but Shenwari was out with 19 runs needed, 19 balls remaining and one wicket standing. The last-wicket pair of Hamid Hassan (15 not out) and Shapoor (12 not out) combined to complete the historic win.
“We lost five wickets early and I had the responsibility to stay there till the end," Shenwari said of Afghanistan’s collapse when it scored only 12 runs for the loss of five wickets. “It was a poor shot to get out, but I was trying to get a six. Good win for us in the tournament and we are looking forward to win more."
Scotland, ranked behind Afghanistan in the ICC rankings, is playing at its third World Cup but is yet to register a win.
“Congratulations. It was a fantastic and spirited performance from our boys," tweeted Afghanistan president Ashraf Ghani, “Well done! We are very proud of them."
Ireland captain Ed Joyce too hailed Afghanistan’s performance on twitter, taking a dig at the same time at the ICC’s decision to the cut the number of non-Test playing nations from the next World Cup. “Our game yest now 2nd best game," Joyce said, referring to Ireland’s victory over UAE on Wednesday. “Well played @CricketScotland and @ACBofficials 2day. Only a few weeks left of these annoyingly good games."
While Afghanistan entered the World Cup as minnows, they have not been overawed by more fancied opponents and have brought an exuberant brand of cricket to the tournament. They looked a realistic prospect of upsetting Sri Lanka last weekend when they reduced the former world champions to 51 for four before a Mahela Jayawardene century restored the status quo.
Shenwari said Afghanistan were hungry for more wins in their remaining matches at the tournament, where they are yet to face Australia and New Zealand, the two co-hosts, as well as England, in the Group stage.
“Hopefully we’ll give them a tough time and we will not give up easy," he said, talking about Afghanistan’s match next week against Australia in Perth. “So we’re looking forward to giving them a tough time and looking forward to winning the match."
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