March 27, 2016•Update: April 02, 2016
By Shadi Khan Saif
KABUL
Young Afghans thronged the streets of capital Kabul and other cities on Sunday to celebrate their country’s landmark victory against the West Indies in the ongoing Cricket T20 World Cup.
This is the first time Afghanistan has qualified to compete against the top-10 countries of the cricketing world.
As the underdog, Afghanistan was not forecast to challenge their group’s leading team, the West Indies, who earlier defeated England, South Africa and Sri Lanka.
But Afghanistan made history in a nail-biting encounter by defeating the West Indies -- the tournament’s favorite -- by six wickets.
In previous matches, the Afghans had come close to winning, but had failed to press home their initial advantages.
"Defeating the West Indies is like winning the whole World Cup!" Kabul resident Najib Ehsas told Anadolu Agency as he and his friends rallied through the city in celebration.
Convoys of cars bearing Afghanistan’s tri-color flag roared through the downtown Shahr-e-Nau, Shirpur, Darul Aman, Karta-e-Nau and other areas.
They were received with smiles by pedestrians in the way, as the whole nation had closely followed the encounter via live television and radio.
Even bigger celebrations are expected upon the national team’s arrival from India later this week.
Messages of congratulations have poured in from the country’s leadership, from famous cricket celebrities and even from Chris Gayle, the star batsman of the losing West Indian side.
The winning squad’s man of the match, Najibullah Zadran, however, could not make it to the podium to speak, as he was injured while making a magnificent catch that changed the course of the match.
