Afghanistan have rebounded from defeat at the World Cup and can do so again, coach Jonathan Trott said after their three-wicket loss to Australia on Tuesday.
Afghanistan had Australia reeling at 91/7 chasing 292 before Glenn Maxwell’s unbeaten 201 snatched a remarkable victory and sealed a semi-final slot for the five-time champions.
Trott’s side are sixth, trailing New Zealand and Pakistan on net run rate, but still have a shot at reaching the last four. They play second-placed South Africa on Friday.
“We lost the New Zealand game pretty heavily and came back and won the next game,” Trott told reporters. “We lost the India game very heavily. Came back and beat England.
“There is evidence of us coming back. But yeah, it’s a bitter pill to swallow. It would really be nice just sitting here with 10 points.”
Afghanistan had won only one match in their two previous World Cup campaigns but have already won four of their eight matches in India so far.
They were close to another upset victory in Mumbai before Maxwell’s incredible innings. “He was hitting all. Guys were changing pace, he was hitting that. Spinners were bowling different lengths, he was hitting that,” Trott said of Maxwell.
“Sometimes you’ve got to take a cap off to a person the way that he played.” Reuters
Gill & Siraj at the top of ODI table
Dubai: India opener Shubman Gill and pacer Mohammed Siraj on Wednesday grabbed the top positions in the batting and bowling charts, respectively, in the ICC ODI rankings.
While Gill replaced Pakistan skipper Babar Azam from the top of the batters’ chart, Siraj displaced South Africa spinner Keshav Maharaj in the bowlers’ list.
Gill displaced Babar on the back of his solid start to India’s campaign in the ongoing World Cup and in the process became just the fourth player from his country — behind Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli — to hold the No.1 ODI batter ranking.
Among the other Indian batters, Kohli has risen to fourth following his sensational run in the World Cup, while skipper Rohit Sharma is at sixth.
Among the bowlers, Siraj rose to the top spot with his impressive effort in the tournament. He has grabbed 10 wickets so far in eighth matches at an economy rate of 5.23 to displace Maharaj from the top.
Among the other Indian bowlers, pacer Jasprit Bumrah has risen three spots to eighth, while Mohammed Shami jumped seven spots to be placed 10th on the chart.
PTI
