The Afghan player was named the Player of the Match during the match against Pakistan in the ICC World Cup 2023.
Ibrahim Zadran on victory against Pakistan
Afghanistan is scheduled to play against Pakistan in the ICC World Cup match at Chepauk Stadium, Chennai. On Monday, the Afghan player Noor Ahmad dismissed Pakistan captain Babar Azam in the 42nd over of the first innings.
Winning the toss, Pakistan chose to bat where Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq opened the innings while Naveen-ul-Haq opened the bowling attack. Shafique had a good start as he scored 58 runs on 75 deliveries and was dismissed by Noor Ahmad and Imam-ul-Haq was sent out by Azmatullah.
Babar Azam was impressive with his score of 74 runs on 92 deliveries and was dismissed by Noor Ahmad on the 42nd over of the innings. Azam was desperate to increase the run rate but with his poor timing, the ball went to Mohammad Nabi.
He dismissed one of the main wickets which helped the side prevent Pakistan from setting a high target.
He also dismissed Mohammad Rizwan for 8 runs from which he took three important wickets. Saud Shakeel scored 25 runs and was sent out by Nabi while Shadab Khan was dismissed for 40 runs by Naveen-ul-Haq.
With Iftikhar Ahmed’s 40 runs, Pakistan scored 282 runs losing 7 wickets in their innings. Afghanistan started their innings with a target of 283 runs where Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran opened the innings while Shaheen Afridi opened the bowling attack.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz had a good start as he scored 65 runs on 53 deliveries and was sent out by Shaheen Afridi. Ibrahim Zadran scored 87 runs on 113 deliveries and was dismissed by Hasan Ali.
Rahmat Shah smashed an unbeaten 77 runs while Hashmatullah Shahidi scored 48 runs on 45 deliveries. Afghanistan won the match by scoring 286 runs on the 49th over with 8 wickets in hand. Ibrahim Zadran was named as the Player of the Match.
While speaking in the post-match conference he said, “I wanted to go out there with a positive mind and positive intent, and I did it. We (Gurbaz and himself) have played a lot of cricket with each other, we have good communication while running between the wickets as we have been playing together since under-16 days.
The way Gurbaz supported me (in that opening partnership) – that helped me and we got the momentum in our favor. I am feeling great for myself and my country,” he concluded.
Afghanistan will be playing its next match against Sri Lanka in the ICC World Cup 2023 on October 23 at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
