Sport
World Cup: Inspired Afghanistan eye another upset in New Zealand clash
The Afghanistan side will look to carry forward the lessons from their England triumph into Chennai, where they will meet a strong New Zealand outfit in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 on Wednesday, October 18.
Afghanistan’s win over England brought a new sense of enthusiasm to the 2023 Cricket World Cup. Besides shaking up the points table, Afghanistan have shown that they can beat any side in the tournament on their day.
Afghanistan will take heart in the fact that in their first ODI win since July 2023, the side didn’t bank on one particular player to fire for them.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz blazed at the top, Ikram Alikhil fought hard during the middle overs while the likes of Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman made important all-round contributions.
However, New Zealand aren’t a side that will roll over easily. Despite yet another injury blow, in the form of losing Kane Williamson to a finger fracture during their Bangladesh game, the Black Caps have had an enviable run in the tournament.
All their three wins have come by a comfortable margin, and most of their players have shown great form.
Mujeeb however, played a big role in Afghanistan’s surprise win over England, with a brilliant cameo with the bat down the order and then picking up three important wickets. Two of these came in the middle overs, and derailed the England chase.
Adept at bowling across the innings, and a successful operative across conditions, Mujeeb will no doubt be expected to play an important role in Chennai as well. If the wicket turns out to be on a slightly slow side, his off-spin can prove to be more than handy.
Squads
New Zealand squad: Kane Williamson (c), Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitch Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Will Young.
Afghanistan squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman, Naveen ul Haq.
For fans in Afghanistan
Ariana Television Network is the official broadcasting partner in Afghanistan and has the exclusive rights to broadcast and stream Cricket World Cup 2023 matches into the homes of fans, live, each day.
As we fight the global quest to Stop Piracy, we appeal to our fans in Afghanistan to tune in to Ariana Television or visit www.arianatelevision.com, and stream matches live.
Please don’t support pirate broadcasters and websites streaming pirated versions!
Afghanistan’s fixtures still to come, that will be broadcast live on Ariana Television are as follows:
• Afghanistan vs New Zealand: Wednesday, October 18, 2023, Chennai
• Afghanistan vs Pakistan: Monday, October 23, 2023, Chennai
• Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka: Monday, October 30, 2023, Pune
• Afghanistan vs Netherlands: Friday, November 3, 2023, Lucknow
• Afghanistan vs Australia: Tuesday, November 7, 2023, Mumbai
• Afghanistan vs South Africa
Sport
Faf du Plessis smashes 75 off 32 balls in Abu Dhabi T10 League
South African player Faf du Plessis showcased his batting brilliance by blasting a blistering 75 for Morrisville Samp Army against New York Strikers in the fifth game of the 2024 Abu Dhabi T10 League on Friday.
The 40-year-old reached his fifty in just 22 balls. He remained unbeaten on 75 off 32 balls, hitting five boundaries and six sixes.
Samp Army posted 135-1 in 10 overs, 41 of it coming from Adndries Gous’s bat, and they won the match by 36 runs.
It was one of the four matches played on Friday.
In the other matches, Northern Warriors defeated Delhi Bulls by 7 wickets, with Jonson Charles hitting a fifty.
Team Abu Dhabi thrashed UP Nawabs by 8 wickets after bowling them out for just 51. Mark Adair claimed four wickets. Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar and Zeeshan Naseer picked up two wickets each.
In the last match of the day, Deccan Gladiators beat Ajman Bolts by 20 runs. Gladiators set a target of 138 runs, with Jos Buttler making 60 runs off 22 balls.
In reply, Ajman Bolts fell short on 117 despite captain Mohammad Nabi blasting 43 off 13 balls.
Sport
Ariana News to broadcast IPL auction live and exclusively in Afghanistan
The highly anticipated TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) Player Auction will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Sunday November 24 and Monday November 25 - an event that will be broadcast to Afghanistan’s cricket fans live and exclusively by Ariana Television and Radio Network (ATN).
The two-day event will be broadcast live and exclusively on Ariana News.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, this year. It will be the second time that the IPL mega auction is held outside India after last year's event in Dubai.
This year's mega auction will have 1,574 players registered, of which 574 names will go under the hammer.
Of those 574, a total of 366 players will be Indian and 208 will be foreign cricketers.
A number of big names will be in fray, with as many as 81 players choosing to register themselves under the highest base price bracket of Rs 2 crore ($237,000).
Afghan players
Eighteen Afghan players have been shortlisted for the IPL mega auction.
Two hundred and four (204) slots will be up for grabs with 70 available slots for overseas players.
Full list of Afghan players shortlisted for the auction:
Rahmanullah Gurbaz
Noor Ahmad
Waqar Salamkheil
Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar
Mujeeb-ur-Rahman
Azmatullah Omarzai
Naveen-ul-haq
Zahir Khan Pakten
Sediqullah Atal
Mohammad Nabi
Gulbadin Naib
Fazalhaq Farooqi
Najibullah Zadran
Ibrahim Zadran
Qais Ahmad
Karim Janat
Faridoon Dawoodzai
Nangyal Kharote
For cricket fans across the country, the IPL mega auction broadcast will be on Sunday and Monday from 1.30pm Kabul time on Ariana News. For more information and updated stories be sure to watch this space and follow us on social media.
Sport
Pakistan trumps Afghanistan by only 13 runs in U19 Tri-Series One Day match
Chasing 245 to win, Afghanistan lost their opening batter Mahboob Khan in the first over but recovered as Uzairullah Niazai and Faisal Shinozada secured a 104-run partnership for the second wicket
Afghanistan’s U-19 cricket team went down to Pakistan by only 13 runs on Wednesday in their third tri-nation series One Day match at the ICC Academy in Dubai.
This was Pakistan’s first win over Afghanistan in the ongoing tournament after the Afghans defeated their opponents by 100 runs at the same venue on Friday.
Chasing 245 to win, Afghanistan lost their opening batter Mahboob Khan in the first over but recovered as Uzairullah Niazai and Faisal Shinozada secured a 104-run partnership for the second wicket.
After Faisal’s departure, Uzairullah soon followed with Afghanistan at 142 for three in 26.5 overs.
Afghanistan were bundled out for 231 in 46.4 overs.
Earlier, after opting to bat first, Pakistan’s opening pair Shahzaib Khan and Usman Khan provided a solid 129-run stand to Pakistan.
Left-handed Usman, who scored a century against Afghanistan in the previous match, scored an 88-ball 77, which included eight fours.
Shahzaib meanwhile top-scored for the side with 78 off 101 balls, hitting seven boundaries.
For Afghanistan, Abdul Aziz Khan and Khatir Khan Stanikzai bagged three wickets apiece, while Naseer Khan Maroofkhil snapped two wickets.
Pakistan will take on the hosts UAE U19 in their last group match on Friday, 22 November.
In a post on X, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) said late Wednesday: “Not the result we would have wanted but Afghanistan Future Stars will look to bounce back in the next match.”
Afghanistan will take on UAE U19 on Sunday, November 24.
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