New Delhi [India]: Following India’s eight-wicket win against Afghanistan in the ninth match of the ODI World Cup 2023 at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi said that they expected to score 300+ runs but unfortunately, they lost too many wickets.
While speaking during the post-match presentation, Shahidi praised the conditions in New Delhi and said that the surface was good.
The Afghanistan skipper accepted that they lost too many early wickets in the first inning for which they failed to give a much higher target.
Shahidi added that they have seven games in hand and make a comeback in the upcoming days of the ODI World Cup 2023. He further added that they need to learn from their mistakes and work on them.
“We had in mind that India’s batting lineup is long, 300 was on our mind but unfortunately we lost too many wickets. The surface was good. We wanted to score more runs and put pressure on the opposition. Back-to-back wickets were the reason we didn’t score more runs.
After losing 3 wickets I was talking to Azmatullah – Don’t worry about dots, we will convert later. Our aim was to build a partnership. We have seven more games, looking forward to those games. Hopefully, we learn from our mistakes and we will work on them,” Hashmatullah Shahidi said during the post-match presentation.
Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi played a stunning 80-run knock from 88 balls with a strike rate of 90.91 to help Afghanistan reach a target of 273 runs. Afghani bowling allrounder Azmatullah Omarzai also scored 62 runs from 69 balls with a strike rate of 89.86.
Jasprit Bumrah led the Indian bowling after he scalped four wickets in his 10-over spell in the first inning.
In the second inning, the top four of the Indian batting lineup helped the Men in Blue clinch two consecutive wins in the ODI World Cup 2023.
India skipper Rohit Sharma played a scintillating inning and scored 131 runs from 84 balls with a strike rate of 155.95. The 36-year-old opener smashed 16 fours and five sixes.
Ishan Kishan who partnered with Rohit scored 47 runs from 47 balls with a strike rate of 100.00. Kishan slammed five fours and two sixes.
Virat Kohli also had a stunning game at his home ground. The former Indian skipper scored 55 runs from 56 balls. Kohli played the match-winning four in the end to clinch a victory in the game.
The Men in Blue will lock horns against Pakistan in their upcoming match of the ODI World Cup 2023 at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday.
