From Naveen Abeyratne in Lahore for SriLankasports.com
Heavy rain in Lahore forced to abandon the Champions Trophy match between Australia and Afghanistan on Friday. When the umpires decided to abandon the game around 8.45 pm, Australia had scored 109 for one in 12.5 overs.
Minimum of 20 overs for both sides are needed to constitute a one-day international match. Hence the points are shared between the two teams and Australia qualified for the semi-finals with four points to their credit.
Having won the toss, Afghanistan elected to bat first without hesitation. Their batting is strong and the Afghans aimed to use the better part of the Lahore pitch to their advantage. Especially since this pitch was used for the England-Australia match, Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi’s idea was to give his bowlers an advantage when the pitch slowing down at night.
Sadiqullah Atal (85) and Azmatullah Omarzai (67) guided Afghanistan to a comfortable 273 in 50 overs, without giving much of a respect to Australian bowlers. Ben Dwarshuis final over saw them lose two wickets but Afghanistan batted bravely to reached their target.
Although Ramanullah Gurbas was dismissed before scoring, in the first over, it was not much of a problem for Afghanistan. Ibrahim Zadran and Sadiqullah Atal kept the scoreboard moving with a decent run rate. The unbelievable part was that the Australian bowlers gave away 15 extras within the first 7 overs. The Australians managed to beat Afghan batters for more than 20 times in the first 10 overs but the Asians who are renowned for big hitting, included 8 sixes and 13 boundaries in their batting essay.
Sadiqullah Atal, still 23 years old, has settled well into the No. 3 position in the Afghan batting line up. He completed the third half-centuries in his 8th ODI. Sadiqullah, The stylish left hander, sent leg-spinner Adam Sampa out of the attack with several powerful blows. In the next over, Spencer Johnson came from the other end and Sadiqullah was caught by Steven Smith at extra covers.
Adam Sampa, who had dismissed Ibrahim Sadran in his first over, threatened the Afghans attaking stroke play. Yet Sadiqullah and the Afghanistan Skipper, Hashmatullah Shahidi added another 68 runs, but the situation changed with the dismissal of Sadiqullah.
From there onwards, Azmatullah Omarzai took over the control with a series of impressive shots to push Afghanistan’s score to 273. Omarzai’s 63-ball innings consisted of 5 sixes and a four.
Surprisingly, there were 37 extras gifted to Afghanistan by the Australians and it was quite unusual by the Australian standards.
Be the first to comment