On Wednesday, October 11 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, Match 09 of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 pits India against Afghanistan. After deciding to bat first, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (21 off 28), Ibrahim Zadran (22 off 28), and Rahmat Shah (16 off 22) all made hasty returns to the pavilion, leaving Afghanistan reeling at 63/3.b After taking three early wickets, Afghanistan’s captain Hashmatullah Shahidi made his way to the middle and joined Azmatullah Omarzai in a huge stand. He even displayed good judgment to earn a free hit in the 22nd over of the innings, which was bowled by Ravindra Jadeja.
The Afghanistan captain attempted a massive shot on the first ball of the over but ended up top-edging the ball, which traveled toward the third man for a boundary. Shahidi hurried to speak with the on-field umpire Michael Gough after receiving the boundary. He informed him that throughout the 11th through 40th over, India had five fielders outside the 30-yard circle as opposed to the permitted maximum of four.
As a result, the umpire declared the first ball to be a no-ball right away and indicated a free hit. Shahidi attempted to go for a huge shot but was unsuccessful and was caught at mid-off, allowing the opponent to steal a single.
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Hashmatullah Shahidi continued to lead his team in scoring.
In order to save their side, Shahidi and Omarzai (62 off 69) put on a huge 121-run fourth-wicket stand off 127 balls. Notably, it was Afghanistan’s second-highest World Cup stand ever. Hardik Pandya, who took out Omarzai’s stumps in the 35th over, ended their partnership.
At the opposite end, Shahidi kept playing, eventually scoring 80 (88) on the strength of eight fours and a six. Kuldeep Yadav put a stop to his innings by catching him trying to reverse sweep in front of the stumps. Afghanistan’s score after 43 overs was 225/5 when Shahidi was dismissed.