India and Afghanistan are locking horns in Match 09 of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 on Wednesday, October 11 at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi. After opting to bat first, Afghanistan were left reeling at 63/3 after Rahmanullah Gurbaz (21 off 28), Ibrahim Zadran (22 off 28) and Rahmat Shah (16 off 22) returned to the pavilion cheaply.
Following the three early wickets, Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi walked out to the middle and got involved in a massive stand with Azmatullah Omarzai. During his knock, he even used his presence of mind to get a free hit during the 22nd over of the innings bowled by Ravindra Jadeja.
On the first ball of the over, the Afghanistan skipper went for a big hit but ended up top-edging the ball which went towards the third man for a boundary. As soon as he got the boundary, Shahidi quickly went to have a chat with the on-field umpire Michael Gough. He informed him that India had five fielders outside the 30-yard circle instead of the permissible limit of four during the 11th – 40th over.
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Hence, the umpire immediately adjudged the first ball to be a no-ball and signalled a free hit. However, Shahidi couldn’t make the most of the free hit and got caught at mid-off while trying to go for a big shot and stole a single.
Watch the incident here:
Shahidi went on to top score for his side
Shahidi and Omarzai (62 off 69) got involved in a massive 121-run stand for the fourth wicket off 127 balls to bail their team out of trouble. Notably, it was the second-highest stand for Afghanistan in World Cup history. Their partnership was broken by Hardik Pandya who dismantled Omarzai’s stumps in the 35th over.
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Shahidi continued his knock at the other end and went on to score 80 (88) with the help of eight fours and a six. His innings was brought to an end, by Kuldeep Yadav who trapped him in front of the stumps as he attempted a reverse sweep. After Shahidi’s dismissal, Afghanistan were 225/5 after 43 overs.
