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During their pursuit of a 292-run target against Afghanistan in the ODI World Cup 2023, the top order of the Australian batting lineup collapsed at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The first powerplay stage belonged to the fast bowlers of the Afghanistan cricket team, namely Naveen-ul-Haq and Azmatullah Omarzai, who played a key role in reducing Australia to 52/4.
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Travis Head was dismissed without troubling the scorers, nicking through to the keeper Ikram Alikhil off the bowling of Naveen-ul-Haq in the second over of the Australian innings. A few minutes later, Mitchell Marsh, who had gone off to a flyer with two fours and two maximums, was trapped in front of the stumps by Naveen-ul-Haq for 24 off 11.
The introduction of Azmatullah Omarzai paid dividends in the ninth over, when he castled David Warner, who swung his bat across the line, for 18 off 29. On the very next ball, he managed to pick up the wicket of Josh Inglis, who found the first slip fielder Ibrahim Zadran on zero, to put Australia in some real trouble in the run chase.
Some of the best posts on X on the Australian batting collapse are as under:
As of this writing, Marnus Labuschagne and Glenn Maxwell are holding fort for Australia at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai against a highly spirited Afghanistan bowling attack. With the likes of Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, and Noor Ahmad still to deliver their spells, the Afghans would be fancying their chances of pulling off arguably the most famous win in their cricketing history.
