NEWS ARCHIVE

Afghanistan u16 is going to participate in U16 challenge Cup Penang Malaysia

Afghanistan U16 cricket team is going to Malaysia to participt in ACC U16 challenge Cup in Penang Malaysia on 12 of july.The camp is going to start on 25th
of june in Islambad Pakistan.14 squad and 4 reserve players a coach Assadullah khan and manager Tawab zafarzai will take part in the camp and the they will be going to malaysia via dubai. A 11 years old Jaffar katawazai is the part of the team a first and ever Chinaman in Afghan squad.today jaffar katawazai had match against pakistan women cricket team in lahore andgot 3/22 in 5 overs he got the wicket of nain abadi as well a well known opener for pakistan National women cricket team!

Morkel and Steyn blitz too much for Afghanistan

It was always going to be a tough task for Afghanistan if they were going to beat South Africa and qualify for the Super 8 stage. And if it wasn't for the express pace of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, they would have had a chance.

Afghanistan captain Nowroz Mangal won the toss and put South Africa into bat. Despite losing Loots Bosman early on when he was short of his ground going for a second leg bye, they got off to a flier, reaching 45-2 when Graeme Smith was out in the fifth over after scoring 27 from 14 balls.

Smith fell to Nabi, and that over began a process of the Afghan spinners putting a stranglehold on the game. After being on 45-2 from 4.2 overs when Smith was out, they scored slowly and had only moved onto 90-5 when Boucher was out in the 15th over. Samiullah Shenwari didn't take a wicket but bowled very well, going for just 14 runs from his four overs.

Hamid Hassan came on to bowl in the 13th over, and straight away removed the danger-man Jacques Kallis. He lad Mark Boucher trapped lbw from the first ball of his next over and Afghanistan were on top in the match. But a well paced sixth wicket partnership of 43 from JP Duminy and Albie Morkel came at the perfect time before Duminy became the third victim for Hassan.

Hassan finished with 3-21 from his four overs, and with him nearing 90mph on the speed gun, he has certainly announced himself on the world stage. South Africa ended their innings on 139-7.

It had been said before the match that Afghanistan would struggle against the South African pace attack, but the way in which their upper order imploded was still unexpected. When they managed to get bat on ball, Afghanistan were edging most of the balls they faced. Dale Steyn took 2-6 and Morne Morkel took 4-20 as Afghanistan collapsed to 14-6 and then 32-8.

Hamid Hassan then joined Mirwais Ashraf at the crease, and they made sure that Afghanistan would avoid the lowest score in Twenty20 internationals. Ashraf dominated the partnership at first, and he hit two sixes, one of which sailed out of the ground over the Garfield Sobers pavilion, and he had helped take Afghanistan to 65-9 when he was bowled by Charl Langeveldt.

Hassan hid a second six before he was out, with Afghanistan having made 80, a fine comeback from 14-6, losing by 59 runs.

Afghanistan now go back home after announcing themselves on the major world stage. They may have lost both matches, but they certainly weren't completely outclassed. A number of English county sides are still looking for overseas players for the Twenty20 Cup, and they'd do well to look at a couple of the Afghan side, especially Hamid Hassan.

Their next scheduled tournament is division one of the World Cricket League in the Netherlands in two months time. The other teams will no doubt have been watching at home and noting Afghanistan's weakness to the short ball, something they need to work on if they do face the big teams more often.

Andrew Nixon
6 May 2010

India overcome brave Afghanistan

Afghanistan's players and their supporters were dreaming of an upset when they awoke this morning, but it wasn't to be. The match went according to the form book, with India easing to a seven wicket win over an Afghan side playing their first match at this level.

Even before the match started, it had a place in the history books as the first ever match between an affiliate member of the ICC and a full member. It was India who won the toss, and their skipper MS Dhoni chose to put the Afghans into bat.

Afghanistan lost three wickets inside the first six overs, with Karim Sadiq and Mohammad Shahzad both falling in a similar manner, edging an attempted hook to MS Dhoni behind the stumps. Shahzad may have been unlucky though, as replays suggested the ball came off his helmet.

Noor Ali and Asghar Stanikzai then set about rebuilding the Afghanistan innings. Noor Ali batted well, playing the patient role, making only the second fifty for Afghanistan in international Twenty20 cricket. Stanikzai also played slowly for most of his innings, but he also hit out, smashing three big sixes in his innings of 30.

Their fourth wicket partnership made 68 and lasted eleven overs before Noor Ali fell the same way as Sadiq and Shahzad - miscuing a hook shot and edging it to Dhoni. Stanikzai fell from the first ball of the next over, and Mohammad Nabi fell from the next delivery to yet another miscued hook shot that was edged to the keeper. All three wickets fell with the score on 97, leaving Afghanistan struggling.

They scored 17 runs from the remaining 16 balls, losing two more wickets in the process and finishing on 115-8, a target that was never going to be enough against the winners of the 2007 World Twenty20.

The first over of India's reply was bowled by Dawlat Ahmadzai and it was smashed for 16 runs. Three runs were taken from Shapoor Zadran's first over, and Ahmadzai bounced back in his second over when Nabi pulled off a fantastic catch in the covers to dismiss Gautam Gambhir, and four runs were taken from the over, which was to be Dawlat's last.

Zadran went for four from his second over, and it was puzzling that he didn't bowl again as Nowroz Mangal switched to his spinners. Nabi went for 14 from his first over, before Samiullah Shenwari had Suresh Raina trapped lbw in his first over. There were three more overs of spin before Hamid Hassan was finally introduced in the tenth over as the fourth change bowler.

Hassan bowled well, taking 1-8 from his three overs, but he was introduced too late to have any effect on the match. Murali Vijay hit two sixes from Nabi before he was dismissed by Hassan, caught by Zadran going for another six.

Nowroz Mangal came on to bowl the fifteenth over himself to MS Dhoni. Dhoni hit two sixes before hitting the penultimate ball of the over for two to secure the seven wicket win for India.

Questions will be asked as to how Nowroz Mangal handled his bowlers. He didn't bring Hamid Hassan on until way too late, and the two opening bowlers probably should have bowled at least one extra over each before being taken off.

At the presentation, Mangal said that he hoped Afghanistan can play more against the senior teams, something all the ODI status teams need.

India will play South Africa at the same venue tomorrow, with Afghanistan taking on South Africa on Wednesday in Barbados. That match will be covered live on CricketEurope, and we'll also be covering Ireland's match against England on Tuesday.

Andrew Nixon
1 May 2010

Afghans braced for weight of expectation

Afghanistan have been breaking new ground for the last two years. Their rapid rise up the world rankings, and ultimately a place at the World Twenty20, has captured the hearts and minds of the cricket world. Now comes another new challenge for them. On Saturday, in St Lucia, they will play India in front of a sell-out crowd with pictures being beamed back to local television in Kabul and beyond.

It's a lot to take in, but Afghanistan show no signs of a backward step after their five-wicket victory against Ireland on their first full day in the Caribbean. Even for what was, ultimately, nothing more than a practice game there will be huge celebrations back home at the result. There always are when Afghanistan win, which they've done a lot lately, but it leads to some huge expectations for the 15 players on duty in West Indies.

"We met our president, Hamid Kharzai, a month ago and he just asked us to win the World Cup," the coach Kabir Khan said with a laugh and a smile, sitting alongside his captain Nowroz Mangal. "Even when it's a friendly game the scores are live on the internet and the TV shows them at the bottom.

"So now we've beaten Ireland in a friendly game they will be celebrating, that's how big it has gone. It's a lot of pressure on us. They don't want us to lose. The demands are very high, they expect a lot from us and it can go both ways, but so far the boys have given them a lot of trophies."

That run of success - starting with the World Cricket League Division Five and cumulating in February's victory in the World Twenty20 qualifiers - has brought much joy to a troubled nation, but at the same time the fans, many of whom are new to cricket, expect the team to win every time they walk onto the field.

"They don't know a lot about cricket, they just see the team is winning so think it should be good enough," Khan explained. "If they can win one tournament why not the World Cup? It's all the same for them. We often get asked when we are going to beat Australia or Pakistan, so those are the questions we have to answer sometimes and we just have to calm them a little."

Most teams talk about the pressure of expectation, and in Afghanistan's case it's plain to see. However, they are likely to receive an extra boost from the crowds, because if their warm-up against Ireland was any marker, they will be everyone's second-favourite team - much like West Indies used to be.

"The good thing about the team is that at every level they have lifted their game. Everything about them has improved at each stage," Khan added. "I know there will be pressure; there will the pressure of television, the pressure of the crowd but they are quick learners and I hope they will adjust to it."

Mangal has the daunting task of dealing with the hopes of a country who are now expecting nothing less than victory every time. However, he can only see the positive in Afghanistan's situation and is happy to dream about more memorable days.

"It's a great honour for us to be playing at this level and it's a great achievement for us to be here at a World Cup," he said. "The team we qualified with, Ireland, we have come here and beaten so it shows our standards are there and obviously we hope something very special will happen over the next week."

Surely, though, they don't have realistic hopes of causing an upset when the tournament proper starts? India and South Africa are at the top of the pile in world cricket, packed with powerful batting, bowling of the pace Afghanistan have never seen and, in India's case, no shortage of spin quality.

"Obviously we have got two very good teams in our group, we know that, but we have seen in Twenty20 anything can happen," Khan said. "It can be anyone's game on the day if you play well and if we play well there is a chance of an upset. The boys are very well prepared and the best thing for them, and for me, is that we aren't just here to participate - we are going to play hard cricket, we are going to play tough cricket.

"We are positive, but win or lose, for me as a coach, achieving this status in the World Cup is a much bigger thing for me. But if they can give me a win I'll be delighted."

Delighted probably wouldn't be the right word to sum up the reaction in Afghanistan if India and South Africa are humbled in the coming days.

Andrew McGlashan in Georgetown

April 29, 2010

Ireland lose final warm up game to Afghanistan

Ireland lost their final warm-up game of the ICC World Twenty20 to their nemesis, Afghanistan. The margin of defeat was five wickets as the Afghans passed their target of 134 with three balls to spare.

That didn’t look likely as a disciplined Irish attack had reduced them to 71 for 4 with just six overs remaining. Gary Kidd bowled the 15th, and from his first ball Asghar Stanikzai was dropped by Nigel Jones on the long on boundary – a hard chance, but what made it worse for Kidd was the fact that it was parried over the boundary rope for six.

From that point on, the momentum was with the Afghans, and Stanikzai (39*), in conjunction with Mohammed Nabi (28*) shared a match winning stand of 66 in just six overs to take their side to the brink of victory.

Nabi fell to Alex Cusack with just two runs needed, Jones atoning for his earlier miss with a well judged catch in the deep, but by that stage the game was virtually lost.

Stankizai benefited from a misjudgement by Peter Connell on the midwicket boundary – Andre Botha the unlucky bowler.

George Dockrell (2-23) again impressed with the ball, while Trent Johnston (1-14) was by far the most economical of the Irish bowlers.

If Stanikzai was the beneficiary of Irish generosity in the field, then the same applied to John Mooney, who made the most of an early reprieve to top score with 42 from 33 balls, hitting three powerful sixes.

Ireland badly needed his let off as they had been reduced to 32 for five by an inspired spell from Dalwat Ahmadzai (4-15). He dismissed skipper William Porterfield with the second ball of the game, and followed that up by taking a stunning return catch to remove Paul Stirling. Alex Cusack lost his middle stump playing on, and Kevin O’Brien mistimed a drive to mid-on.

Gary Wilson made 32 from 26 balls (3 fours), as he and Mooney shared a 6th wicket stand of 79 in nine overs, rscuing Ireland from the abyss. Trent Johnston hit 16 from 13 balls down the order, but a total of 133 looked below par.

It ultimately was, but only thanks to the late fireworks from Stanikzai and Nabi.

Ireland now have to lift themselves for a clash on the opening day with hosts West Indies, while for Afghanistan, the little matter of India and South Africa await them.

CricketEurope
29 April 2010

Afghanistan's extraordinary journey

Afghanistan's fairytale has gone truly global. After narrowly missing out on qualification for the World Cup they carried all before them to secure a place in the Caribbean. In the space of a few years they have become one of the most talked-about sporting teams in the world and the tales of the players who have emerged from refugee camps are already the stuff of legend.

The traditional leading Associates have admitted to being surprised by the skills of Afghanistan and Kabir Khan, the former Pakistan quick who is now their coach, has moulded a team with some highly skilful and flamboyant players. Mohammad Nabi, an offspinning allrounder, and Hamid Hassan have benefited from time with MCC Young Cricketers while Mohammad Shahzad wrote his name in the record books with an unbeaten double hundred as Afghanistan chased an incredible 494 in a recent Intercontinental Cup match against Canada.

So far during their stunning rise from Division Five of the World Cricket League to a place at a global event they continually managed to lift themselves to a new level, but now they need to retain realistic objectives.

"People love the game in Afghanistan. We're not afraid of anyone because we have nothing to lose, and nobody knows Afghanistan," said Hassan. "This will be the first time we're playing on the big screen, the first time people will see us, so we hope we can show them how good we are."

Twenty20 pedigree

They earned a place in this tournament by winning the qualifying event in UAE where they overcame defeat against Netherlands to beat the hosts and book a place in the final alongside Ireland. Both teams knew they were heading to West Indies, but Afghanistan bagged the silverware with an eight-wicket victory.

Strengths and weaknesses

They are a tightly-bonded team who don't take a backward step regardless of the opposition. At the lower-levels of the WCL it raised a few eyebrows, but that competitiveness has carried them a long way, often when few gave them a chance. However, they find themselves in a tough group alongside India and South Africa and it will be the first time the batsmen will have faced genuine pace in the likes of Zaheer Khan and Dale Steyn. There will also be the pressure of appearing in front of a global TV audience who have heard plenty about Afghanistan's exploits.

Key men

Hamid Hassan is a vital member of Afghanistan's attack in all forms of the game, but in Twenty20 he is held back until the closing overs and, at Associate level, has often been able to stop the opposition racing away.

Mohammad Nabi was spotted by Mike Gatting with a hundred against an MCC touring side in India and was invited to join the Young Cricketers. He has since become a major force in the Afghanistan side and was the leading wicket-taker during the qualifying tournament with 13 scalps at 10.53

X-factor

The shock factor can't be underestimated. International teams spend hours doing their homework on opposition, but there won't be much footage knocking around of Afghanistan which means they can retain an element of surprise.

Vital stats

·  Afghanistan have won four of their six Twenty20 internationals and three of their five one-day internationals.

·  They have moved up four leagues in just two years having started with their victory at the WCL Division Five tournament in Jersey in 2008.

Andrew McGlashan

April 28, 2010

Afghanistan confident of creating an upset

Afghanistan may have a tough time in the World Twenty20, being slotted in the same group as former champions India, and South Africa, but their coach Kabir Khan, a former Pakistan international, is confident of upsetting the formbook.

"We are excited about facing India. We have been working hard and we want to give them a big fight. We will make it hard for them and hope to make an upset. We are not just going there just to participate," Kabir told AFP.

This will be Afghanistan's first experience of the big stage, and Kabir is preparing them for the challenges, both on and off the field. "Our team is mentally very strong. We have lectures on how to keep calm in front of the cameras and playing in front of big crowds. Wherever we go, we play in front of crowds who support us. But at the big tournaments, they have to get used to fans cheering against them as well," Kabir said.

Allrounder Asghar Stanikzai believes that the pressure is on the other teams since Afghanistan have nothing to lose. "We're kind of the underdog for our group and the pressure is actually really on South Africa and India as to them we're the unknown quantity to take on in this tournament," he said. "We just want to go out there and enjoy each game we play. We're quite excited, we've been waiting for a while to be able to prove ourselves in a big tournament and we've worked really hard to get there and we're really looking forward to the experience."

Batsman Raees Ahmadzai had echoed Kabir and Stanikzai in his predictions for the tournament. "We won't be going out there just for fun," he said. "In Twenty20 cricket anything can happen. It is a form of cricket that we know very well and we will not be easy to beat."

Afghanistan made the cut for the tournament by winning the qualifying tournament in the United Arab Emirates. They begin their campaign against India in St. Lucia on May 1 and then meet South Africa in Barbados on May 5.

Cricinfo staff

April 26, 2010

Afghanistan's cricketers return to heroes' welcome

A triumphant Afghanistan team returned home to a joyous welcome from hundreds of fans after securing a place at the World Twenty20 tournament in West Indies. A large crowd of supporters at Kabul's airport waved the national flag and sang patriotic songs to greet the team on their arrival, AFP reported.

"Our national cricket team returns home today and we have come to show them our appreciation for their achievement and to further encourage them," said Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal, finance minister and Afghan Cricket Board chairman.

After wins over Ireland, Scotland and USA in the group stages of the Qualifiers in Dubai, Afghanistan held their nerve to beat UAE in a low-scoring semi-final to be sure of admission to their first major tournament.

"Certainly it was a dream of all the players and the Afghan people, and God fulfilled it," captain Nowroz Mangal said of their winning streak at the Qualifiers.

Afghanistan finished the qualifying tournament in style, beating Ireland by eight wickets in the final, meaning that they will now face India and South Africa in Group C of the World Twenty20, which begins on April 30.

Cricinfo staff

February 25, 2010

Afghanistan chase down 494 with Shahzad double

There is no challenge too daunting for Afghanistan at the moment. Riding the momentum that led their charge to qualification for the World Twenty20, Mohammmad Shahzad's unbeaten 215 helped them pull off a sensational chase of 494 to beat Canada by six wickets in the Intercontinental Cup at Sharjah.

It was the ninth highest fourth-innings run chase in first-class cricket, which means Afghanistan now top the Intercontinental Cup table and can credibly lay claim to being one of the strongest Associate nations. That they would even be in a position to draw this match seemed unlikely after Canada racked up 566 batting first before rolling Afghanistan over for 264. It left Afghanistan facing a 302-run first-innings deficit, which, it turned out is the highest ever in a first-class game by a side batting second who went on to win.

A more likely prospect at the beginning of the day was survival, but 18-year-old Shahzad shared two century stands, first with captain Nowroz Mangal and then Mohammad Nabi, that set up and all-but sealed the victory which came with 2.2 overs to spare.

Having watched the openers lay a solid foundation, Shahzad and Mangal patiently constructed a third-wicket stand of 163, taking few risks, running hard and picking off the occasional boundary to keep the target, still unlikely, at least in sight.

When Mangal was eventually dismissed, caught and bowled by Ramesh David, there was still 212 needed, with approximately 37 overs left in the day. Yet such is the confidence running through the veins of Afghanistan cricket that they promoted the big-hitting allrounder Nabi up from No.8 to No.5.

Following on from his lusty, unbeaten 48 in the first innings, Nabi was slightly more dexterous to begin with on this occasion. Working the ball around and running hard to start with he then crashed successive boundaries off Khurram Chohan to bring up his 50 and signal Afghanistan's intent for the mammoth chase.

Together with Shahzad the pair added 178 in a little under 30 overs, with Nabi smiting Hiral Patel for a six over long on and a four to deep square-leg to take him into the 90s before he was smartly caught on the long off boundary two balls later.

His replacement, Asghar Stanikzai, only hastened the chase, clubbing his second ball out of the ground. With Shahzad continuing serenely to pass his double century from 242 balls, Stanikzai hit another six before sealing the victory by smashing Nitish Kumar through point for four. Yet again, Afghanistan have proved inspirational and the celebrations will reverberate all the way back to Kabul.

Afghanistan 264 and 494 for 4 (Shahzad 215*, Nabi 80, Mangal 70*) beat Canada 566 and 191 for 4 dec by six wickets
Scorecard

Cricinfo staff

February 23, 2010