Afghanistan Beat Bangladesh to Book Semi-final Berth, Knock Out Australia
Afghanistan dominated the group stages and pulled off a heist against Australia in the Super Eight stages, creating history by advancing to the semi-finals of the 2024 T20 World Cup for the first time in their cricket history. In a nail-biting encounter against Bangladesh, a must-win game, Afghanistan battled hard and triumphed over Bangladesh for their second win in the Super Eight stages, which knocked out Australia. Naveen-ul-Haq and Rashid Khan were the heroes of the match for Afghanistan, while from Bangladesh, wicket-keeper batter Litton Das played a lone hand and remained unbeaten on 54.
Bangladesh’s Exemplary Bowling
Afghanistan chose to bat first. Openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran batted steadily under Bangladesh’s strategic bowling. Still, Afghanistan could not maintain the run flow for most of the innings except Rashid Khan’s finishing performance. Bangladesh bowlers performed excellently and restricted the Afghan batters from scoring high. Their efforts appeared to place Bangladesh in a dominant position, especially when it blunted Afghanistan for 115/5.
Afghanistan’s Epic Comeback
As the match resumed post-rainfall, Afghanistan's bowlers showed immense determination. Bangladesh scored 46 runs in the powerplay but lost three wickets. In the 11th over, Rashid Khan dismissed Mahmudullah and Rishad Hossain in quick succession. This moment was a key highlight as it shifted the momentum of the match.
The match became even more tense as the continuous downpour disrupted its flow. Bangladesh now needed 37 runs off 13 balls, but the batsmen struggled to maintain the required run rate. The last few overs were decisive and suspenseful. Afghan bowler Naveen-ul-Haq delivered a spectacular over, claiming the key wickets of Taskin Ahmed and Mustafzuiur Rahman. With this, the match concluded, and Afghanistan won by 8 runs through the DLS method.
Talking about the win, Afghanistan Captain Rashid Khan expressed immense pleasure, “It's a dream for us to be in the semifinals. We wanted to make people back home happy and everyone did a wonderful job.”
Afghanistan will now face South Africa (AFG vs SA) in the semi-final 1 on 27th June, 2024 at the Providence Stadium in Guyana. It will be the clash of two teams who have been resilient and coming off some nail-biting finishes in the super eight stages.
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