Cricket lovers couldn't stop admiring the resilience of Afghanistan cricket on Monday when they yet again emerged victorious in ICC ODI World Cup 2023. They defeated Sri Lanka by seven wickets, maintaining an amazing record at the tournament. They won three of their last four World Cup matches.
They have already defeated England by 69 runs, Pakistan by eight wickets this World Cup and on Monday they defeated Sri Lanka by a massive margin in Pune.
Netizens said coach Jonathan Trott and mentor Ajay Jadeja deserve a massive credit for this incredible achievement.
Afghanistan moved to fifth spot on points table after the win against Sri Lanka with six points.
Feisty fifties by Rahmat Shah, skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullh Omarzai helped Afghanistan defeat a tentative Sri Lanka.
Rahmat (62), Shahidi (58 not out), who completed 2,000 ODI runs, and Omarzai (73 not out) led the chase with aplomb as Afghanistan overhauled the target of 242 in just 45.2 overs.
Earlier, Sri Lanka produced a dull batting effort to get bundled out for 241.
They were rocked by pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi who grabbed four wickets conceding just 34 runs in his quota of 10 overs.
"Afghanistan's performance in this World Cup has been absolutely outstanding, and their batting has reached new heights," said an X user.
"The dark horse of this world cup .... surprised everyone...these wins are not fluke ...very well planned and brilliant wins.," gushed another X user.
With Afghanistan having a really good chance of staying among top seven teams, they will automatically qualify for Champions Trophy 2025, no mean achievement for a team that was seen as a minnow in world cricket.