IND vs AFG, World Cup 2023: Azmatullah Omarzai-Hashmatullah Shahidi 100-run stand finds place in history books

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Azmatullah Omarzai and Hashmatullah Shahidi made a piece of history on Wednesday (October 11) when the Afghanistan duo added 121 runs for the fourth wicket against India in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023. The partnership bailed Afghans out of trouble as they recovered from 63/3 at one stage.

Skipper Shahidi scored 80 runs while Omarzai contributed 62 runs before the latter was castled by Hardik Pandya to end the second-highest partnership in a World Cup match for Afghanistan.

Ikram Alikhil and Rahmat Shah's 133-run partnership against West Indies in Leeds during the 2019 England edition remains the highest stand for Afghanistan in a 50-over World Cup.

Hasmatullah-Azmatullah stand is also only the second time that two batters have added more than 100 runs for a wicket with the third-highest partnership for Afghanistan for any wicket is at 94 (Shahidi and Asghar Afghan against England in 2019)

Highest partnerships for Afghanistan in World Cups (any wicket)

133 - Ikram Alikhil, Rahmat Shah vs WI, Leeds, 2019
121 - Azmatullah Omarzai, Hashmatullah Shahidi, vs IND, Delhi, 2023
94 - Asghar Afghan, Hashmatullah Shahidi vs ENG, Manchester, 2019
88 - Asghar Afghan, Samiullah Shinwari vs SL, Dunedin, 2015
86 - Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari vs NZ, Napier, 2015

(Stat courtesy: Cricbuzz)

Earlier in the game, Afghanistan opted to bat first after winning the toss but lost their first three wickets for just 63 runs despite encouraging innings by openers Ibrahim Zadran (22) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (21).

However, an passage of impact play by Shardul Thakur, who was drafted in the line-up instead of pacer Mohammad Shami, took a stunning catch at the fine-leg boundary and backed it up with the wicket of Rahmat Shah (16) in the next over to soon put Inida at front in the game.

At the time of writing, Afghanistan were 229/6 in 44.2 overs with Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya picking two wickets while Thakur and Kuldeep Yadav had a wicket each to their names.