[Watch] Afghanistan players erupt in joy after beating Pakistan for the first time 

Afghanistan cricket team made history on Monday (October 23) by beating Pakistan for the first time in ODI cricket. It was even sweeter for the Afghan side, as the victory came on the biggest stage of them all in Cricket, the World Cup.

The two neighboring nations squared off in the 22nd match of the 2023 World Cup at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai today. Pakistan batted first in the contest after winning the toss and made 282/7 in 50 overs. Babar Azam (70). Abdullah Shafique (54), Shadab Khan (40), and Iftikhar Ahmed (40) contributed decently with the bat for Men in Green.

Afghanistan management fielded four frontline spinners for this match, which proved to be a great move as Pakistan batters struggled against them.

Afghanistan's top four batters then played exceptionally and shepherded their side to the winning shores in 49 overs. Rahmanullah Gurbaz (65), Ibrahim Zadran (87), and Rahmat Shah (77*) hit half-centuries while captain Hashmatullah Shahidi remained unbeaten on 48*. He also finished the match in style by hitting a four on the final ball of the 49th over.

Celebrations kicked off in their camp immediately as it was their first triumph over Pakistan in ODIs after losing several close matches over the years.

You can watch the winning celebrations in the video below:

Afghanistan players also took a lap of honor after the match to express gratitude to the audience who supported them. You can watch it in the below video:

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"This loss hurts us"- Pakistan captain Babar Azam after the loss against Afghanistan in 2023 World Cup

At the post-match presentation, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam expressed disappointment in losing the match. He put the blame on the bowling department and fielders for not delivering the goods, saying:

"This loss hurts us. Against a side like Afghanistan, we got the good total on board but we were not up to the mark with the ball."

"We were not up to the mark on the field as well, in a big tournament like this, you got to up there in all departments, we needed to stop boundaries and conceded a lot of runs on the field, the way their openers were batting, we needed to strike, we didn't strike at the right times."

Babar also credited Afghanistan for the way they played, adding:

"All credit to them, the way they played, at the moment we were not playing good cricket, we have to try better in the next game, try and take good things from this game and move on. We didn't hit the right lengths, especially in the middle overs and we conceded boundary every over.

Do you think Pakistan can still reach the semi-finals of the 2023 World Cup? Sound off in the comments section.