Sport

Afghanistan braced for more ‘passionate’ rivalry with Pakistan

Published

1 year ago

October 22, 2023

Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott said Sunday that his team are looking forward to renewing a "passionate" rivalry with Pakistan which has often reflected the stormy political relationship between the two neighbors.

Both sides are in desperate need of a win at the World Cup.

Pakistan have lost their last two games after a pair of opening wins while Afghanistan pulled off a shock victory over defending champions England but have also slumped to three defeats, AFP reported.

At the 2019 World Cup match in Leeds, which Pakistan won by three wickets, riots between the two sets of fans erupted outside the stadium.

Afghanistan fast bowler Fareed Malik and Pakistan batsman Asif Ali almost came to blows in a Twenty20 game at Sharjah last year.

"I think for them (Afghanistan players) it's a rivalry that excites them," said Trott on Sunday.

"I think it's a rivalry that sometimes in the past has been very passionate.

"We've had very close games as well. Hopefully tomorrow isn't very exciting and we win by a lot. It's just the nature of the rivalry, I should say."

He added: "Both teams, I think, respect each other, but are very desperate to win."

Trott said he wasn't aware that Pakistan had unsuccessfully demanded the International Cricket Council switch Sunday's game to another venue.

Reports claimed that Pakistan was keen to dent the threat posed by Afghanistan's world-class spin attack.

"I didn't know about them wanting to (change the venue), but I think Pakistan have got good spinners themselves and the thing with spinners, there are only two or three of them playing a game," said Trott.

Afghanistan's spin trio of Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi will pose a threat for Pakistan as they did against England, sharing eight wickets in an upset 69-run win.

That game, however, took place in New Delhi.

"It's everybody's job, not just the spinners, to win games. There's batsmen who've got to put runs on the board or batsmen who've got to chase down a total," added former England batsman Trott.

"Chennai is normally a good wicket. So, with regards to the mindset, it's important, as I said, the mindset we have there is that it's a team game. It's not just a spinner's game."

Afghanistan have lost all seven ODIs against Pakistan but can take a degree of satisfaction from knowing that they clinched three of the teams' last four Twenty20 meetings.

"We always look to put the opposition under pressure straight away so we'll be looking to do that tomorrow obviously, and I don't think there's any thoughts with regards to previous matches," said Trott.

Related Topics:#َAfghanistan #WorldCup Cricket featured Pakistan

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Afghanistan clinches ODI series victory against Zimbabwe

Published

2 days ago

December 21, 2024

Ariana News

Afghanistan's national cricket team triumphed over Zimbabwe by 8 wickets in the third and final One-Day International (ODI) to claim the series victory.

In a dominant bowling display, Afghanistan dismissed Zimbabwe for just 127 runs in 30.1 overs. The Afghan batsmen then chased down the target comfortably in 26.5 overs, losing only 2 wickets along the way.

The standout performer of the match was Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar, who took a remarkable 5 wickets, while Rashid Khan supported with 3 wickets. Azmatullah Omarzai and Farid Ahmad each claimed 1 wicket.

The first match of the series was abandoned due to rain, but Afghanistan bounced back strongly in the second match, securing a commanding 232-run victory.

This series win follows Afghanistan's earlier success in the T20I series against Zimbabwe, further cementing their dominance in international cricket.

Sport

Bangla Tigers lift Lanka T10 Super League title

Player of the match and player of the series was Titan’s skipper Dasun Shanaka.

Published

3 days ago

December 19, 2024

Ariana News

Hambantota Bangla Tigers beat favorites Jaffna Titans by 26 runs in Thursday’s Lanka T10 Super League final at the Pallekele Stadium in Kandy.

The Tigers produced a fine all-round performance to beat the Titans, who had won all their matches in the lead up to the final.

Player of the match and player of the series was Titan’s skipper Dasun Shanaka.

Hambantota Bangla Tigers, put into bat first, posted 133 for seven from their allotted 10 overs through some useful contributions from their top order batsmen.

The openers Mohammad Shahzad and Kusal Perera added 35 runs from 2.4 overs before they suffered a middle order collapse and reached 59 for three at the halfway stage of the innings.

However, skipper Dasun Shanaka and Shevon Daniel revived the innings with a fourth-wicket partnership of 44 runs in three overs.

Shanaka made 21 with two sixes and two boundaries while Daniel struck 26 with one six and three boundaries before Kennar Lewis and Dhananjaya Lakshan added the finishing touches.

Chasing 133 runs for victory, Jaffna Titans lost wickets at regular intervals and they eventually finished at 107 for six despite a fighting unbeaten half century from middle order batsman Tom Abell.
Richard Gleeson wrecked the Hambantota Bangla Tigers’ innings with excellent figures of three wickets for 21 while Shanaka captured two wickets for four runs.