“Cometh the hour, Cometh the Man” – each and every word stood true for Afghanistan captain Asghar Stanikzai, who battled through pain, stitches and medicines to guide his team to a tense 5-wicket victory over Ireland in the Super Sixes match in ICC World Cup Qualifiers.
In doing so, Afghanistan chased down Ireland’s 209/7 by reaching 213/5 in 49.1 overs to secure their berth in 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, to be hosted by England and Wales.
Afghanistan entered Super Sixes without carrying forward any points from the group stages and looked down-and-out out for the running for the qualification spot. However, they won all 3 Super Sixes matches and were aided by rain intervention in the Scotland/West Indies match, which knocked out Scotland from the running and then UAE stunned host’s Zimbabwe to stop then from qualifying for the World Cup.
Asghar Stanikzai spoke about his thoughts in the post-match presentation “I’am in too much pain but I was playing for the country. It is our dream to qualify for the World Cup. Afghanistan team played bad in first half but they played well and they believed in themselves”
ICC World Cup Qualifiers Super Sixes Points Table:
| SUPER SIXES | |||||
| TEAM | Matches | Win | Loss | Points | Net Run-Rate |
| West Indies (Q) | 5 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 0.472 |
| Afghanistan (Q) | 5 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 0.302 |
| Zimbabwe | 5 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0.42 |
| Scotland | 5 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0.243 |
| Ireland | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0.346 |
| United Arab Emirates | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | -1.95 |
