Afghanistan's star spinner Rashid Khan is more known to be lethal with a ball in his band but on Tuesday at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, he made sure his batting too made the talking as he slogged in the final over of Afghanistan's innings. Rashid is known to be quite popular face amongst Australian faithful (with BBL) as he scored an unbeaten 35 of mere 18 deliveries to help Afghanistan post 291/5 -their highest-ever total at the World Cup. (Match Blog | Streaming | Scorecard | Key Battles)
Rashid's explosive batting was there to be seen when he smashed 16 runs off the final over bowled by Mitchell Starc, leaving the Wankhede Stadium chanting his name 'Rashid, Rashid', similar to the one of 'Sachin, Sachin'.
Rashid hit a four over the third man region and followed it with a maximum to long-off, as he brought up a fifty-run stand between himself and Ibrahim Zadran, who became Afghanistan's first batter to score a ton at the World Cup.
Rashid smashed another six off Starc, with Aussie great Ricky Ponting on-air quipping it to be a 'tennis shot'.
Also Read: AFG Vs AUS: Ibrahim Zadran Hits Classy Century Against Australia, Becomes Afghanistan's First Centurion In ICC Cricket World Cup
Earlier, Afghanistan opted to bat first in Mumbai, with both teams chasing a semi-final berth at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. A win for either team would boost their last four chances.
Teams:
Australia (Playing XI): Travis Head, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Pat Cummins (C), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.
Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq
