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Afghanistan and Scotland each was going for its first victory in a Cricket World Cup match on Wednesday night in Dunedin, New Zealand.

The match went down to the final three deliveries with both teams still with a chance to win or to tie. In the end, Afghanistan won after a four from Shapoor Zadran gave it 211 runs to win by one wicket. Three deliveries were left.

Scotland had finished 210 all-out in its innings and had looked like the more likely winner for much of Afghanistans innings. This was especially true after Afghanistan was 97-7.

But Samiullah Shenwari hit a personal-best 96 to lead Afghanistan. Opening batsman Javed Ahmadi added 51. No one else in the lineup had more than 10 when Shenwari was dismissed by Majid Haq in the 47th over.

So the scene was this: To win its first World Cup match, Afghanistan had to rely on the batting of the final two members of the lineup to get 19 runs in 18 deliveries. Both those players are bowlers.

For Scotland to win, it needed to take one wicket or hope the batters scored less than 19 runs in the allotted time.

In the end, Zadran clinched it with two fours in the final four balls. As a bowler, Zadran took four wickets for 38 runs. Scotlands Richie Berrington also took four wickets; his were for 40 runs. Matt Machan and Haq were co-high scorers with 31 runs each.

But Shenwari was voted man of the match. He finished with 96 of his teams 211 runs.

Scotland will be disappointed by coming so close to winning only to fall short, just days after losing to Auld Enemy England in a Pool A match.

But its hard not to feel happy for Afghanistan. In an interview with the BBC earlier this week, Afghanistan Manager Andy Moles, born in England, described the security procedures for his team to play a match. The team is accompanied by 18-25 armed security guards to and from stadiums in its country. Moles says he leaves his hotel room only for practice or for matches. He goes immediately home. No restaurants, no walking around. For food, he orders room service.

Excerpt from:
Cricket World Cup 2015: Afghanistan defeats Scotland