Cricket World Cup 2023: Afghanistan beat Netherlands to keep semifinal hopes alive

Afghanistan defeated the Netherlands by 7 wickets in a low-scoring World Cup match in Lucknow on Friday.

Chasing a modest 179, Afghanistan got home with 111 deliveries to spare.

It was Afghanistan's fourth win in seven games and kept them in the hunt for a semifinal spot. They moved to eight points, the same as Australia and New Zealand, who currently occupy two of the semifinal qualifying places.

The Dutch, meanwhile, suffered their fifth defeat.

Earlier, Afghanistan restricted error-plagued Netherlands to 179 all out.

The Netherlands won the toss and opted to bat but were undone by seeing four of their batsmen run-out.

The Dutch recovered from seeing 39-year-old opener Wesley Barresi dismissed by spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman in the first over.

Max O'Dowd and Colin Ackermann put on 70 for the second wicket when a series of run-outs put them on the back foot.

O'Dowd was on 42 when he was beaten by a direct hit by Azmatullah Omarzai from fine leg.

With the score on 92-2, Ackermann (29) failed to make his ground when Ikram Alikhil whipped off the bails from a smart throw by Rashid Khan.

On the next delivery, skipper Scott Edwards swept, lost sight of the ball and as he wandered aimlessly out of his crease Alikhil ran him out without scoring.

Mohammad Nabi and teenage wrist spinner Noor Ahmad then sent back Bas de Leede and Saqib Zulfiqar with Logan van Beek dismissed thanks to a smart stumping by wicketkeeper Alikhil.

Sybrand Engelbrecht had made 58 with six fours when he became the fourth run-out of the innings, failing to beat Nabi's throw from midwicket.

That left the Dutch on 152-8 before they went on to be bowled out after 46.3 overs.

• I was there at Wankhede and it was incredible to see the fast and furious Indian pacers