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Afghanistan smother Netherlands with spin and sharp ground fielding
Afghanistan smothered Netherlands with spin and sharp ground fielding as the batting side folded for just 179 in the 47th over. As many as four batters were run out, including Sybrand Engelbrecht (58 off 86) and Max O’Dowd (42 off 40) – the only two who showed a semblance of resolve on a tough evening in Lucknow.
Netherlands’ decision to bat first was dented in the first over when Mujeeb Ur Rahman trapped new opener Wesley Barresi leg before with a wrong one and earned his 100th ODI wicket. Max O’Dowd however, got his team a swift move-on in the company of one-drop batter Colin Ackermann. The pair gave Netherlands what they’ve lacked all World Cup – a solid base provided by the top-order as they raced away to 66/1 at the end of the PowerPlay. O’Dowd was particularly fiery, hitting nine fours in this period by himself as Afghanistan lost control with the ball.
But an acrobatic effort from Azmatullah Omarzai pulled it back for Afghanistan as his direct hit from fine leg clipped O’Dowd’s wings and sent him packing in the 12th over. Just when Ackermann and Engelbrecht were starting to rebuild through the middle overs, a poor call for a run from the latter after hitting to mid-off led to the former’s run out, for 29. Afghanistan then dented the Dutch when captain Scott Edwards went for a sweep on the first ball he faced, underedged the ball and wandered out of the crease without realising where the ball had gone. Wicketkeeper Ikram Ali Khil, kept really busy for the entirety of the innings, ran the Netherlands captain out. Netherlands went from 66/1 in 10 overs to 97/4 in 20, and the curve continued to spiral downwards in the next 10 overs too.
It began when Nabi had Bas de Leede caught behind while trying to play a straight delivery down towards third man. While Netherlands batters were carefully trying to play out Rashid Khan, Hashmatullah Shahidi introduced his left-handed clone – Noor Ahmad in the 24th over. Saqib Zulfiqar became Noor’s first wicket in the evening when he nicked one to Ali Khil while trying to cut a straight delivery outside the off-stump.
Logan van Beek kept Engelbrecht company for five overs while the latter attempted to rescue his team out of the mess they were in, but Nabi came back to break the brief resistance. Van Beek gave the offie the charge for a big shot but missed completely and Ali Khil once again swung into action to take the bails off and leave Netherlands six down for 134. Engelbrecht brought up a gritty half-century but paid the price for another instance of poor decision-making while running between the wickets. Roelof van der Merwe nudged a ball to the leg side and set off for a tight single but Nabi fired a superb throw from midwicket and Ali Khil ran another batter out.
The only positive for Netherlands on the day was that they could render Rashid wicketless. But that didn’t make any difference to the bowling side as Netherlands folded in the 47th over for just 179 – the lowest-total Afghanistan have bowled out an opposition for in an ODI World Cup. A successful chase will take Afghanistan to fifth above Pakistan, and keep their hopes of sneaking into the semis alive.
Brief Scores:
Netherland 179 in 46.3 overs (Sybrand Engelbrecht 58, Max O’Dowd 42, Colin Ackerman 29; Mohammad Nabi 3-28, Noor Ahmad 2-31) vs Afghanistan
The Vatican has announced the Pope’s funeral will take place on Saturday, 26 April at 10:00 local time (09:00 BST).
The Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the proposal furnished by the President in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to publish the draft bill of Gambling Sports Regularization Act in the government gazette notification and subsequently submit the same to the Parliament for its concurrence.
The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Fisheries, Aquatic and Marine Resources to seek the services of the Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau as a consultant for the renovation of the Karainagar boat yard project and allocate 40 million rupees from the Treasury for the expenditure to be borne by the Government of Sri Lanka.
[A memorandum of understanding was signed by the President during his official visit to India in December 2024. , to obtain a grant from the Government of India for the renovation of the Karainagar Boat Yard
According to the MOU, the responsibility of providing the technical consultancy service for the project and exempting the goods and equipment related to the grant from taxes has been assigned to the government of Sri Lanka.]
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