Dedicating victory to a ‘struggling country’
Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi dedicated his team’s victory over the Netherlands to the “people struggling” at home and insisted they are still “dreaming” of reaching the World Cup semi-finals, AFP reported.
Afghanistan swept to a seven-wicket triumph with 111 balls to spare to record a fourth win at the tournament after already shocking defending champions England, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
With two group games left, they have eight points, the same as Australia and New Zealand, although their rivals boast better run rates.
Undefeated India has already ensured a semi-final spot, with South Africa almost sure to join them.
After the victory, Hashmatullah turned his thoughts to the desperate plight of compatriots on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
More than 165,000 Afghans have fled Pakistan in the month since Islamabad issued an ultimatum to 1.7 million people to leave or face arrest and deportation.
“A message to our country back home. We know that a lot of refugee people are struggling. We are watching the videos and we are sad for them,” said 28-year-old Hashmatullah.
“We are with them in these tough times, and I want to dedicate this win to them, who are in pain, and to everyone back home.”
Hashmatullah said he also has private reasons to push toward the last four.
“I lost my mother three months ago, and my family is in a lot of pain,” he said.
“We are still dreaming, and we are still trying our best to make the semi-final. That would be such a big achievement for our country and for me.”
Before this year, Afghanistan had won only one match at World Cups against Scotland on their debut in 2015.
Four years ago, they lost all nine games they played in the United Kingdom.
On Friday, set 180 to win, Rahmat Shah (52) hit his third successive half-century while Hashmatullah made an undefeated 56, also his third fifty in a row.
Veteran off-spinner Mohammad Nabi was man-of-the-match for his 3-28.
“Mohammad Nabi is a special player. He is so talented, and he loves to take responsibility with the ball like he did today,” said Hashmatullah.
Next up for Afghanistan on Tuesday is a potential grudge match against five-time champions Australia.
In January, Australia controversially canceled a series against Afghanistan in protest, they claimed, at the Taliban’s treatment of women.
“We have good team unity. We are very united, and we are always playing for the team and winning for the team,” added Hashmatullah.
The Netherlands, who have stunned South Africa and Bangladesh at the tournament, were undone Friday by four run-outs.
“The run-outs were hard to come back from. We set ourselves up for a good total. They have quality spinners through the middle, and we didn’t have our top order batters to face them,” said skipper Scott Edwards.
“We’ve done well batting first, defending scores. We thought if we scored 280, we’d be well in the game.”