Agency, Dunedin :At the world’s southernmost cricketing outpost Thursday (February 26) dawned crisp and sunny, and while the sun bore down hard through clear blue skies, a cool southerly blew incessantly off the seas, as if in reminder that Antarctica was not all that far away. At the University Oval in Dunedin, the two teams mirrored the elements, blowing alternately hot and cold.And, while the Scots were much the same, Afghanistan took this two-facedness to a ridiculous extreme covering the gamut from brilliant to mediocre and back, sealing a one-wicket in one of the most dramatic games of cricket you will see in a long time.Samiullah Shenwari played the kind of World Cup innings Brian Lara would’ve been proud of, singlehandedly lifting his side from the depths of depression to within kissing distance of victory. Coming to the crease with the score on 46 for 2, and watching the scoreboard slip to 97 for 7, Shenwari (96) did not leave till the 47th over, when one booming slogsweep too many missed the meat of the bat and floated down the throat of the long-on fielder. With 19 still needed, though, Scotland were back in the game.Shapoor Zadran, the tall left-arm quick, batted with a composure completely missing in his willow-wielding superiors, and when he tucked the final ball of the penultimate over past the fine-leg fielder to the fence, Afghanistan were left needing 5 from the last over.Iain Wardlaw, Scotland’s spearhead, conceded a single off the first ball. Rapped on the pads off the second, Shapoor wandered nervously down the pitch and would have been well run out if Matt Machan’s under-arm throw had hit the target. The third ball was a leg-stump full-toss, and Shapoor flicked it ever so elegantly to seal the deal.After being set a modest target of 211 – and even this was courtesy Scotland’s best batting effort in a World Cup match – Afghanistan began strongly. Javed Ahmadi bossed over the bowling as though he was an adult playing amongst teenagers, cutting fiercely and pulling with disdain. Nawroze Mangal was more subdued, and did not receive as much of the strike, getting to 7 off 13 before a slightly lazy stroke was beaten by a ball from Alasdair Evans that came back in just enough to castle the batsman.Asghar Stanikzai played forward to a ball that was just back of a length, and lifted, the edge fairly flying through to the keeper. The big wicket, though, of Ahmadi (51) was purely the batsman’s folly. Coming down the track to the medium pace of Richie Berrington, Ahmadi went through his big stroke despite not being in a good enough position to do so and the ball went high rather than far, to be easily caught.What followed was frustratingly Afghanistan as five wickets fell for the addition of only nine runs. Berrington was the chief beneficiary, scalping 3 for 9 in the space of 19 balls.
