In the lead-up to the Division-3 of the World Cricket League (WCL), there was no denying the fact that Afghanistan seemed to be that one team that could upset a lot of apple-carts. As if to prove that their tournament win at the fifth division of the WCL was no flash in the pan, this war-strived nation went on to win the fourth Division without losing a single match in the tournament. With this victory, Afghanistan – along with Hong Kong – qualified for the third division of the WCL. They now join four other countries to contest a six-nation tournament early next year, which will decide which two of the teams would go on to enter the final qualification round later in 2009.
World Cricket League Five:
Afghanistan’s progress has been a phenomenal one so far. It started with the WCL Division Five title, in which they thwarted the challenge from eleven other countries to clinch it. In the five group matches that Afghanistan played, they lost only one and that was to Singapore. In the process, Japan, Bahamas and Botswana were blown apart
It would be fair to say that the Afghanistan bowlers were the ones that ruled the roost for them. Right arm medium pace bowler, Hameed Hasan and off-spinner Mohammad Nabi not only had a bagful of scalps coming their way, but were also miserly to the core. The pitches did play their part, but single-digit bowling averages for both the bowlers more than made up for it.
The batsmen, on the other hand, failed to come to grips with the moist conditions in Jersey. None of their batsmen featured in the top-twenty list of top run-getters, with the best effort coming from Karim Khan. Khan finished with 116 runs in the tournament. Nabi, who also represents one of the Pakistani first class side, did get to 108 runs as well, but his average of 15.42 was anything but spectacular.
Afghanistan’s first match against Japan, saw their best effort with the bat as they got to a score of 179, but failed to bat out the full fifty overs. Wicket-keeper opener Karim Sadiq was the top-scorer with a dashing 46-ball 47, and the total proved to be 92 runs more than Japan could manage. The match against Bahamas was pushed to its reserve day and Afghanistan had no difficulty whatsoever in brushing the challenge from Bahamas aside. Restricting Bahamas to a measly 46, they did make heavy weather of chasing the total down by losing five top-order batsmen, but it was due to their hurry to get the runs before the rain pelted down. Botswana was next, and Afghanistan scored a seven-wicket win after restricting their opponents to 128. Singapore finally managed to expose the batting chink in the Afghani armour, as the latter capitulated to 76 all out, while chasing Singapore’s 145.
In the semi-final, Afghanistan made a spirited 142 against the other group’s toppers, Nepal, and then managed to get them out for a paltry 105. Dawlat Ahmadzi was the star of the show with a 3/18 in their ten overs.
It must be said that Afghanistan was a trifle lucky to qualify for the knock-out rounds. At the end of the group stage of the competition, they were tied for the second place with Singapore, but edged them out on a better run-rate. It must be remembered that Singapore had managed to put one across Afghanistan, while the latter’s match against Jersey ended in a watershed. Jersey had not lost a single match till then, and the plot may have thickened had the match materialised. In the meantime, Singapore just needed to beat the bottom-placed Bahamas to get past the Afghanis, but had to be content with a solitary point after the match was abandoned! In the same breath, it must be added that luck usually favoured the brave, and Afghanistan did well to make full use of their luck, like Pakistan had in the 1992 World Cup. Pakistan looked down and out, and was staring down the barrel against England after being dismissed for around 70. The Rain-Gods obliged, Pakistan stole a point from the match, and the rest, as they say, is history!
In the end, Afghanistan won the tournament by a wafer-thin margin of two wickets, in a low-scoring match that went down to the wire. The hosts, Jersey batted first after winning the toss, but was shot out for a lowly 80 by the duo of Hasti Gul and Hameed Hasan. However, at 42/7, the Afghanis had not endeared themselves to the title yet. In a fine show of an all-round display, it took a courageous knock of an unbeaten 29 from Gul, to clinch the trophy.
Geoffrey Boycott presented the trophy to the winning captain, Nowroz Mangal. With this win, Afghanistan had moved to the Division Four of the World Cricket League.
Copyright: Cover Point
