Rashid Khan and his men scripted history as they reached the semifinals of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup by beating Bangladesh. Afghanistan’s win also ended Australia’s run in the ICC showpiece event.
This was a perfect revenge for what the Aussies did to Afghanistan in the ODI World Cup in 2023. Poised to win, Afghanistan failed to keep their nerves, as Glenn Maxwell played one of the most outlandish innings in cricket’s history to take the Aussies home. The match not only galvasined the Australians, they ended up as the eventual winners of the tournament, upsetting over a billion Indian fans in the finals.
Khan and his team seemed to have learnt from the past mistakes, as they kept their composure to stun Australia on June 23, picking up their first win against the Aussies. On Monday, they won against Bangladesh by eight runs in a low-scoring thriller.
Winning the toss and batting first, Afghanistan scored 115 runs for the loss of five wickets, on the back of Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s 43. Skipper Rashid chipped in with an unbeaten knock of 19 off 10 balls.
For Bangladesh, leggie Rishad Hossain picked up three wickets, while the other two were shared by Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman.
Bangladesh faltered early in the chase, even while the batters scored briskly. At the 2.5-over mark, Bangladesh had scored 23 runs, but had also lost three wickets, including that of former skipper Shakib Al Hasan, whose innings lasted just one ball.
Though Liton Das scored a half century, 54, he ran out of partners, as the Tigers were bowled out for 105 runs. As rain interrupted, the target for Bangladesh was adjusted to 114 runs in 19 overs.
Afghan pacer Naveen-ul-haq and captain Khan picked up four wickets each, as they entered the semis. Naveen was adjudged the player of the match for his figures of 4-26 in 3.5 overs.
Afghanistan will now play South Africa, who are yet to lose a match in this tournament. In the other semifinal, unbeaten India will take on England.