In the first match of the tournament, Afghanistan took on another favorites Canada. After winning the tos s Canada elected to bat, putting a defendable total of 257 for the loss of 7 wickets. Wicketkeeper Ashish Bagai scored an impressive 82 runs before conceding his wicket to Khaliq Dad. Canadian opener Hiral Patel scored 43. Afghan spinner Samiullah Shinwari took 3 wickets for 43 in his spell of 10 overs. Khalid Dad and Shapoor Zadran took two wickets each.
In reply, it looked like Afghanistan had made a promising start before Shabir Noori was runout by Hiral Patel with a mere 48 runs on the scoreboard. After the loss of the first wicket, opening batsmen Noor Ali and wicketkeeper Mohammad Shahzad put a partnership of 87 runs before Noor Ali was run out as well. However, it was Captain Nawroz Mangal’s fast-paced knock of 70* of 58 balls that took Afghanistan to victory. Mangal was declared man of the match.
Afghanistan play Ireland in Rotterdam on Saturday, July 3rd. In their opening games, Ireland defeated Kenya by a comfortable 7 wickets, with Scotland defeating Netherlands by 1 wicket in a close game.
Scores in brief
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Afghanistan vs Canada |
Afghanistan Won by 6 wickets |
