CricketViewer.com

Fast bowler Hafti Gulabid claimed the prized wicket of Mike Gatting as an Afghanistan side won their first ever match against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) here on Thursday.

Gulabid, a 22-year-old from Jalalabad, induced an edge from the former England captain’s bat, and his brother Karim Khan Sadiq, 20, took the catch behind the stumps.

“I am so happy, he’s a senior player,” said the bowler. “I’m 22 — and he has probably been playing for longer than that.”

Gatting was philosophical about his dismissal. “I got a decent ball,” he said. “This isn’t a game you just go out and play. If you don’t have practice you don’t do as well as you should.”

The Afghanistan side posted a formidable 356-7 in their 40 overs against a team predominantly made up of minor counties cricketers from England. Mohammad Nabi top scored with 116. In reply, the MCC were bowled out for 185.

The match was played at a club ground here as part of the MCC’s mission to popularise the game.

Most of the Afghanis learned their cricket in Pakistan at the refugee camps after fleeing the invasion by the then Soviet Union in the early 1980s.

Source: The News

Technorati Tags: Mike Gatting, MCC, Jalalabad, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Soviet Union