Afghanistan seal World Cup spot
CAPTAIN STANIKZAI BATTED IN PAIN TO SCORE AN UNBEATEN 39 AS HE AND NAJIBULLAH ZADRAN SAW THEIR TEAM HOME.
HARARE: Afghanistan qualified for next year’s World Cup as captain Asghar Stanikzai played through pain to produce a heroic innings and lead them to a five-wicket victory over Ireland in the World Cup Qualifier on Friday.
Stanikzai returned to the team last week for the closing stages of the qualifying tournament after having surgery to remove his appendix.
He batted in obvious pain and with a heavy dressing under his shirt, to score an unbeaten 39 off 29 balls, as he and Najibullah Zadran saw their team home with five balls to spare.
Ireland scored a modest 209 for seven in their 50 overs in the winner-takes-all match to decide who would join the West Indies in securing a place at the World Cup.
Afghanistan reached their target as Stanikzai squeezed a boundary with the first ball of the last over as they scored 213-5.
Ireland opener Paul Stirling top scored with 55 and Kevin O’Brien hit 41 runs off 37 balls near the end of their innings on a slow wicket as they sought to accelerate the run rate but managed only 81 runs in last 15 overs.
They will now play the West Indies in the final on Sunday. It will be Afghanistan’s second World Cup appearance after their debut in 2015.
Brief scores: Ireland 209-7 in 50 overs (P Stirling 55, N O’Brien 36, K O’Brien 41, R Khan 3-40) lost to Afghanistan 213-5 in 49.1 overs (M Shahzad 54, G Naib 45, A Stanikzai 39*, S Singh 3-30) by 5 wkts .