Afghanistan kept its hopes of a semi-final spot alive as it thumped the Netherlands by seven wickets on Friday to register its fourth win at the Cricket World Cup.
The massive win lifted Afghanistan level on eight points with Australia and New Zealand, but it still trails both countries on net run-rates.
After a fifth loss in seven games, the Dutch are set to finish in the lower half of the table with only four points despite a stunning 38-run win over South Africa.
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Four of the top five Dutch batters got run out in a sub-par total of 179 as experienced Afghanistan offspinner Mohammad Nabi and young left-arm wrist spinner Noor Ahmad shared five wickets after Netherlands skipper Scott Edwards won the toss and opted to bat.
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Rahmat Shah followed his half centuries against Sri Lanka and Pakistan with another impressive 52 off 54 balls and skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi remained unbeaten on 56 off 64 deliveries as Afghanistan cruised to 3-181 in 31.3 overs.
"We are still dreaming, and we are still trying our best to make the semifinal. That would be such a big achievement for our country and for me," Shahidi said.
"A message to our country back home: We know that people are struggling. We are with them. I dedicate this win to them."
Shahidi added: “We bowled well, but the run-chase was good. “We are all very united at this World Cup. We are enjoying our wins, and all of them are thinking about winning.
"We are trying our best to make it to the semifinals and if it happens, it will be a big achievement for the country.”
The spin quartet of Nabi, Ahmed, Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, which had inspired Afghanistan to an eight-wicket win over Pakistan, troubled an inexperienced Dutch batting lineup on a slow pitch.
Wesley Barresi’s promotion as opener in place of Vikramjit Singh didn’t work well for the Dutch as Mujeeb had him trapped leg before wicket off his fifth delivery with the new ball.
Max O’Dowd (42) and Colin Ackermann (29) then combined in a 70-run stand before a series of three run-outs pushed back the Netherlands.
O’Dowd couldn’t beat the strong throw of Azmatullah Omarzai from fine leg; Ackermann fell short of his ground off a brilliant fielding by Rashid Khan and Edwards wandered out of his crease off the first ball he faced and wicketkeeper Ikram Alikhil ran him out.
The Dutch middle-order batters then couldn’t cope against the spin of Nabi and Ahmad, with Alikhail hanging on two faint edges of Bas de Leede and Saqib Zulfiqar before having Logan van Beek stumped off Nabi.
Top-scorer Sybrand Engelbrecht (58), who was involved in the spade of earlier run-outs, left the Dutch in tatters at 8-152 when he couldn’t beat Nabi’s direct throw from midwicket in the 35th over before Nabi wrapped up the innings by having Paul van Meekeren lbw in the 47th over.
Afghanistan's batters were hardly troubled by fast bowler van Beek or the spin of Aryan Dutt with the new ball before Rahmanullah Gurbaz (10) gloved van Beek’s short pitched delivery to wicketkeeper Edwards down the legside.
Ibrahim Zadran then dragged the first ball of wrist spinner Roelf van der Merwe back onto his stump before Shah and Shahidi combined in a match-winning 74-run stand. Shah offered a tame return catch to Saqib Zulfiqar soon after completing his third successive half century with eight boundaries, but Shahidi stood firm as he raised the victory with a boundary off Dutt to wide mid-wicket.
“Definitely not ideal,” Edwards said of the run-outs. “We started well and set ourselves up for a good total but gave it away a little. They have high-quality spinners and we did not have top-order batters to face them.”
Afghanistan, which won one only game in its two previous World Cup appearances, has had a dream run in this World Cup notching victories against past champions England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It has two tough games against Australia and South Africa remaining in the league stage.
The Netherlands’ remaining league games are against England and host India.
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