Jonathan Trott said that Afghanistan batters need to start scoring hundreds to establish themselves further as a strong unit. On Monday, October 30, the Afghans continued their dream run in World Cup 2023 after beating Kusal Mendis’ Sri Lanka by seven wickets at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune.Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai scored 62, 58 not out and 73 not out, as Afghanistan chased down the target of 242 with 28 balls left in their innings.
Trott said that the Afghan batters now need to take responsibility and convert their starts into three-figure scores.
“Nobody’s got 100 yet, so that’s the next challenge. Someone accepting responsibility and batting for a longer period of time and make sure we get 100s. We see a lot of 100s scored in the tournament. That’s the next frontier, the next barrack. Gurbaz has scored a few 100s recently and Ibrahim, it’s about the middle order, 3, 4, 5, 6, being able to score hundreds as well.
“So that’s the next challenge. And I have absolutely no doubt that the players will be able to in the future. And hopefully it starts in the next game,” Trott was quoted as saying in the post-match press conference.
Trott was also happy to see that all the hard work that the Afghan batters have put in over the last few months are paying off.“I think we’ve been working really hard at our batting and doing the basics. I know it’s very cliche, but the way that we train, the way we think about our cricket, certainly with batting, the way that we accept responsibility at times as well, I think you’re starting to see hopefully not the penny drop, but we’re starting to see also the confidence in the players, in their own ability,” he added.
With the win, Shahidi’s men moved to fifth in the table with six points and a net run rate of -0718 thanks to wins in three out of six matches. They are next set to lock horns with Scott Edwards’ Netherlands on Friday, November 3 at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.
