Historic Cricket World Cup Win For Afghanistan

Newcomers Afghanistan have had their first ever win in a cricket World Cup, beating Scotland by one wicket with just three balls to spare.

Afghanistan had looked set for a heavy defeat after their middle order collapsed, leaving them on 97 for seven, chasing Scotland's 210 all out.

But then Afghan hero Samiullah Shenwari stepped up and almost single-handedly kept his country's hopes alive, eventually reaching 96 runs to set up the dramatic finale.

After Shenwari fell, Afghanistan were still 19 runs short, but a last-wicket stand between Hamid Hassan and Shapoor Zadran got Afghanistan over the line with three balls to spare, Zadran hitting the winning boundary off Iain Wardlaw, sparking wild celebrations.

After the game, man of the match Shenwari said: "We lost five wickets early and I had the responsibility to stay there till the end.

"It was a poor shot to get out, but I was trying to get a six.

"Good win for us in the tournament and we are looking forward to win more."

Earlier in the game, which was played in Dunedin in New Zealand, Scotland were all out for 210 with Matt Machan and Majid Haq both scoring 31 in the Pool A clash.

Haq and Alasdair Evans (28) managed a 62-run ninth-wicket partnership to give the Scots some dignity in seeing out the full 50 overs with a decent target to defend.

Scotland lost wickets in bunches, before building promising partnerships, only to again lose batsmen in quick succession.

The pick of the Afghan bowlers were Shapoor (4-38) and Dawlat (3-29), who put pressure on Scotland's batsmen with accurate line and length.

Afghanistan captain Mohammmad Nabi said: "The pressure was extreme again, but Shenwari batted brilliantly.

"It's good to put two points on the board. This is our first win in the World Cup and everyone (in Afghanistan) will enjoy this."

Scotland captain Preston Mommsen said that despite his side's good start a win "just wasn't to be".

He added: "It's never easy losing a game, but this is a particularly difficult one for us to swallow.

"We had them seven down, but couldn't finish them off."

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was among the first to congratulate his team, tweeting: "Congratulations. It was a fantastic and spirited performance from our boys. Well done! We are very proud of them."

Cricket boards from Australia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were also among those tweeting their congratulations.

The Afghan Cricket Board also tweeted in response to the win, writing: "We made an impossible one possible, wow, great effort from team Afghanistan."

It dedicated the "marvellous and historic" win to the 100 people thought to have been killed in an avalanche north of Kabul, Afghanistan's capital city, earlier this week.

The win is Afghanistan's first from three attempts, while Scotland are still searching for their first victory after 11 consecutive defeats across three editions of the tournament.