AFG v NED highlights: Afghanistan beat the Netherlands by seven wickets at Lucknow to qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy.
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Afghanistan beat the Netherlands by seven wickets with 111 balls to spare at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow. With eight points from seven matches, they are now fifth place in the points table. With four points, the Dutch remained at seventh place.
Apart from hosts Pakistan, the 2025 Champions Trophy will feature the top seven teams from this edition of the World Cup. The win helped Afghanistan qualify for the tournament, while their net run rate also improved to -0.33.
Afghanistan have now won four of their last five matches against England, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the Netherlands in that order. Their remaining matches are against Australia and South Africa.
Batting first, the Netherlands lost Wesley Barresi to Mujeeb Ur Rahman in the first over before Max O’Dowd (42 in 40 balls) and Colin Ackermann (29 in 35) added 70 in 64 balls. No.4 Sybrand Engelbrecht then top-scored with an 86-ball 58.
Despite that, the Netherlands collapsed in bizarre fashion. Their four run outs included O’Dowd, Ackermann, and Engelbrecht, their top three scorers, and their captain Scott Edwards off the first ball he faced.
From 73-1, the Netherlands collapsed to 179 as Mohammad Nabi claimed 3-28 and Noor Ahmad 2-31.
Despite losing Rahmanullah Gurbaz for 10 and Ibrahim Zadran for 20, the Afghan batters went after the attack, with an eye on the net run rate. Rahmat Shah (52 in 54 balls), Hashmatullah Shahidi (56 not out in 64), and Azmatullah Omarzai (31 not out in 28) sealed the chase in 31.3 overs. Logan van Beek, Roelof van der Merwe, and Saqib Zulfiqar got the wickets for the Netherlands.
