Many around the small University Oval ground sensed that Scotland's first World Cup victory was only moments away before Shapoor Zadran and Hamid Hassan dragged Afghanistan to their first World Cup victory with three balls to spare.
Majid Haq did little wrong for Scotland in their Pool A World Cup clash with Afghanistan in Dunedin on Thursday.
The off-spinner ground out 31 runs in a 62-run ninth-wicket partnership with Alasdair Evans (28) to ensure the Scots lasted the full 50 overs and scored 210 all out - a target that could be defended on a helpful pitch.
Then he snapped up two catches at slip. And his first nine overs of very, very slow off-spin went for just 26 runs, six of which had come from Samiullah Shenwari's bat in his eighth over. The six was just the second boundary from his bowling to that point.
Unfortunately Shenwari belted another three sixes from Haq's final over before he was caught on the boundary for 96 attempting a fourth. The wicket created immense joy in Scotland's ranks.
Shenwari was the last recognised batsmen and there were still 19 runs to get from 19 balls with the last pair at the crease. Many around the small University Oval ground sensed that Scotland's first World Cup victory was only moments away before Shapoor Zadran and Hamid Hassan dragged Afghanistan to their first World Cup victory with three balls to spare.
World Cup 2015 Afghanistan v/s Scotland: Samiullah Shenwari's heroics take Afghanistan to thrilling 1-wicket win
Scotland captain Preston Mommsen was left to rue several missed opportunities in those final tense three overs, but it was the only blemish Haq had on an otherwise exemplary performance that may have caused the most damage. He dropped Shenwari on 20 with Afghanistan 88 for three at the time, though Mommsen said he felt the chances they had in the final overs were 'more critical'.
"Towards the back end there we had some definite opportunities. Some run outs, a couple of chances that should have been taken, and at the end of the day, that's probably cost us," said Mommsen.
Mommsen was full of praise for Shenwari's innings, particularly since so many of his own batsmen had all got starts but failed to kick on. "Shenwari managed to manage things better than us. He just kept on top, and kept up with the run rate as that was climbing as well," said Mommsen, who was dismissed for 23 himself.
"It was a brilliant innings by him. But six guys getting in and no one getting past 50, that's not something that we're proud of," added Mommsen.
"That is something that we need to look at as a batting group. Guys are getting in, doing all the hard work, and then not going on to make it count. I look back on that game, and we didn't play our best cricket, but it's still a game that we should have won," signed off Mommsen.
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