The chants of ‘Rashid-Rashid’, the Afghan flag being hurled at different corners of the stadium and the regular fall of Netherlands wickets – the scenes at Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium were electrifying on Friday when the Afghan bowlers hunted down the Dutchmen one after another. The men in orange came prepared for the ‘dangerous pacers’ of Afghanistan but the spin quartet and a nimble fielding effort came out of the syllabus to haunt them. As a result, the final scoreline read 179 all-out in 46.3 overs.
It was a sweet homecoming for Afghanistan in Lucknow where going by the conditions, they opted to bench Naveen-ul-Haq and field an army of tweakers including Rashid Khan, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, Mohammad Nabi and Noor Ahmed.
Netherlands too made some bold changes, dropping Vikramjit Singh from the line-up and promoting Wesley Barresi up the order to accommodate Saqib Zulfiqar in the lower order. Unfortunately, the change only added to the woes of Netherlands in the ongoing ODI World Cup.
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Poor running between the wickets
A 70-run stand for the second wicket, between Max O’Dowd and Collin Ackerman frustrated the Afghans in the powerplay after Mujeeb trapped Barresi in the opening over; it was raining boundaries all around.
But the tables turned with the run-out of O’Dowd. When the bowlers couldn’t break the partnership, Afghanistan’s attacking field set-up did. Omarzai’s direct-hit from fine leg denied the Netherlands opener his first fifty in the World Cup while Rashid’s bullet-throw from long-on to the keeper’s end caught Ackerman short of his crease.
Outwalked Netherlands’ Mr Cricket, captain Scott Edwards to shoulder the innings which suddenly started limping. But Nabi’s flighted delivery tempted the Dutch skipper to play the sweep. But Edwards lost his balance and was well outside the crease when Ikram Alikhil whipped off the bails.
But what hurt the Netherlands the most was the dismissal of Sybrand Engelbrecht. The former South African top-scored a 58 off 86 and could have taken the deeper and the team to a respectable total but was destined to be the fourth Dutch batter to fall short of his crease while taking a risky single.
Roelof van der Merwe called for a tight single but Nabi at short mid-wicket was quick to swoop in. His accurate throw beat Engelbrecht and it was all over for the Dutchmen, putting their dream of making it to the semis in jeopardy.
Nabi spinning vicious web
The Afghans caused some serious damage and it was more mental than physical. Nabi, the most experienced campaigner in the side, carried on the juggernaut to return 3 for 28 in 9.3 overs.
Nabi found his first victim in Bas de Leede (3), having him caught behind by Ikram Alikhil. Next was Logan van Beek (2) who shimmied down the track to play a big lofted drive but missed the ball by several inches. Alikhil collected the ball safely and did the rest.
Nabi hit the final nail in the coffin by trapping Paul van Meekeren (4) in front. The Dutch tailender reviewed the decision but only to find three reds in the ball-tracking.
“First 10 overs weren’t good, line and length wasn’t good, that’s why we bowled badly. Rashid came back and we discussed – 10 overs gone, let’s focus on the next 40 overs and bowl in the right areas, they’ll make mistakes. Same thing we did. When the pressure is on the batsmen, they’ll make mistakes and make bad calls. We took those opportunities and got 4 run-outs. I got good experience in 154 matches, I use that experience in every single game with the youngsters. It’s a good batting pitch, hopefully, we chase it easily,” Nabi said after the first innings.
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Noor was Back
Noor, one of Afghanistan’s prized possessions, was back in the mix after traumatizing Pakistan in Chennai. Lucknow too witnessed his magic on Friday. Saqib Zulfiqar, who was playing just his second game in the tournament, was already under pressure and Noor made his life more difficult. The Netherlands batter tried to cut a flatter outside but could only manage a faint edge to Alikhil.
‘Rashid-Rashid’ all around
No just once but twice Rashid waved at the fans near the boundary and the fans were overwhelmed. The cheers were loud when he was fielding at the long-on while decibel levels went higher when he came to bowl. The leg-spinner may have returned empty-handed but was the most-economic bowler in the Afghan camp. Just 31 runs in 10 overs, leading the charts with an economy rate of 3.1.
Ikram Alikhil – The Flash
Wicketkeeper-batter Ikram Alikhil leaving the field against Sri Lanka with an injury seemed like a concern but on Friday he returned as a better version of himself. His agile appearance behind the wicket was a different kind of trouble for Dutch batters. Alikhil affected as many as 4 dismissals from behind the stumps – 2 catches, a stumping and a run-out. And how can you forget his endless assistance to the fielders who nailed every throw to harm the opposition.
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