PAK vs AFG, ODI World Cup 2023: Afghanistan registered a monumental victory over Pakistan in match 22 of the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Monday.

This was Afghanistan's second win in the tournament so far, having already defeated the defending champions England in Delhi, and was also their first-ever ODI win against Pakistan.

Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott was sure of the victory inspiring the next generation in the country to take up cricket as he recalled effective performances, especially from the youngsters.

"I think it just shows the amount of talent in the side for the country again, as when we were fortunate enough to beat England," Trott said at his post-match press conference.

"It inspires another generation of players to pick up a cricket bat and a cricket ball, work on their fielding and their fitness. We see that the guys are very fit today and fielding for 50 overs and then Ibrahim (Zadran) batting for 35, close to 40 overs is a great, great credit to him."

 

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Despite being ahead of the expectations in the tournament, outclassing England and Pakistan, who have one of the strong bowling lineup, Trott urged his team to be more consistent and be disciplined in order to clinch more such wins going forward in the tournament.

"I think it's just a message of consistency and not being scared to say, listen, we need to improve in these areas, let's make sure we do this," Trott said. "And I'm under no illusion that there are areas that need improving, like any side though. So, if we improve at those slowly, I think our all-round package improves and you'll be able to handle the pressure like we've done tonight.

With the massive win, Afghanistan climbed up to sixth place with four points and two wins under their belt in the five matches they have played so far in the tournament.

Talking about the match, Pakistan after opting to bat first posted a challenging total of 282/7 in their 50 overs. Skipper Babar Azam played brilliantly and scored 74 runs with opener Abdullah Shafique also smashing his half-century.

Iftikhar Ahmed and Shadab Khan put up promising efforts to stitch up a crucial partnership as they applied the finishing touches.

Chasing the target, Afghanistan openers put up clinical performances for their 130-run stand as they scored respective half-centuries.

After Rahmanullah Gurbaz's dismissal, Ibrahim Zadran kept going with the attacking intent and went on to score 87 runs.

Rahmat Shah too reached his fifty and added 96 runs with skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi to take Afghanistan to an eight-wicket win with two overs to spare.

They will be up against Sri Lanka in their next match at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Monday, October 30.

"I'm looking forward. I'm already sort of thinking about plans for Sri Lanka.

"But for me as a coach, it's fantastic to be able to sit here. The players deserve a lot of the credit. It's not what I'm feeding them. It's what they're feeding themselves in practice and the way that they think about the game and the professionalism that's building. The one thing I would say ... they're very fit.

 

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They're working incredibly hard at their fitness and then in the gym, they're not doing beach weights, they're doing proper fitness work and we saw that today with Rahmat (Shah) being able to field for 50 overs and then bat for the amount of time that he did in that heat, so it's a real credit to the players," Trott further added.