Opener Ibrahim Zadran has had a decent run in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 so far. He hit a splendid 87 against Pakistan in Afghanistan's blockbuster win against their sub-continental rivals in Chennai, but apart from that, he has had a bunch of starts that haven't been coverted into big ones. Zadran sought to change that on Tuesday as he hit an unbeaten half-century against the mighty Australia in Mumbai. (Match Blog | Streaming | Scorecard | Key Battles)
Zadran started the innings solidly for his team and was batting on 97 as Afghanistan were at 210/4 at the time of writing. En route his crucial half century, Zadran hit several eye-catching strokes, but none of them more audacious than the upper cut against Australia skipper Pat Cummins. You can watch the video of the glorious below.
As Cummins bowled a short-piched delivery outside off stump, Zadran arched his back and calmly helped it along its way to the deep third boundary. Spectators watched in awe and the inventive shot soon went viral on social media.
Earlier, Afghanistan won the toss and chose to bat first at the Wankhede. The match assumes significance as a win for either Australia or Afghanistan will boost their semi-final hopes significantly. Australia are third in the table on ten points, two ahead of the chasing pack of New Zealand, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Afghanistan are ranked the worst of the three chasers due to their net run rate, but can leapfrog their counterparts with a win over the mighty Australia.
Line-Ups
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
