World Cup 2023: Afghan pair of Azmatullah, Hasmatullah rewrites history books with record stand against India
Both India and Afghanistan are playing in their second match of the ongoing World Cup 2023. India won its campaign opener against Australia in Chennai whereas Afghanistan lost to Bangladesh in their first World Cup game of this edition at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association in Dharamsala.
Star allrounder Azamatullah Omarzai and Afghanistan skipper Hasmatullah Shahidi rewrote the history books on Wednesday, October 11. They became the only pair to record a century partnership for the fourth wicket against India in the ODI World Cup. The milestone came while playing at the Arun Jaitley Stadium where the two teams are currently having a go at each other.
India had their noses well in front after they saw the back of Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmat Shah inside 14 overs. Afghanistan looked in dire straits and were under the potential threat of getting bundled out early on an ideal batting surface. The tourists desperately needed a partnership to take them out of the hole, which came from their captain Hasmatullah and allrounder Azamtullah. The duo batted exceedingly well and rescued the side after an early collapse.
They recorded a 121-run stand and scripted a remarkable fightback to fend off India's bowling attack that was dictating terms comfortably at one stage. Azamatullah scored his first-ever World Cup fifty, aggregated 62 off 69 deliveries and his knock comprised two fours and four sixes. His partner in the middle throughout his stay at the crease, Hasmatullah also played a wonderful knock scoring 80 off 88 balls with the help of eight fours and a six. A facet of their play which also helped the team was the strike rate at which they batted.
While Azmatullah scored at a rate of 89.85 his captain was slightly better, scoring at 90.90 to push the Indian bowlers on the backfoot. Their record stand also became the second-highest partnership for Afghanistan for any wicket in ODI World Cup history behind the 133-run stand between Ikram Alikhil and Rahmat Shah that came against the West Indies at Leeds in the 2019 ODI World Cup.