Under the captaincy of Rashid Khan, the Afghanistan team made a big upset in the T20 World Cup 2024 and defeated the Australian team by 21 runs in the Super 8 match. In this match, the Afghan team, batting first, scored 148 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in 20 overs on the basis of half-century innings of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran. On the other hand, the Australian team, which came to chase this target, kept losing wickets at regular intervals, due to which the team was reduced to a score of 127 runs in 19.2 overs. Now the battle of which 2 teams from Group 1 will secure their place in the semi-finals in the Super 8 round has become very exciting.
Naveen gave early shocks to the Australian team
The Australian team, which came to chase the target of 149 runs, had a very bad start in this match in which Travis Head returned to the pavilion without opening the account on the third ball of the first over. After this, Kangaroo team captain Mitchell Marsh, who came to bat first, could not perform anything special with the bat and became the victim of Naveen Ul Haq after scoring only 12 runs. Australia suffered a third blow in the form of David Warner on the first ball of the sixth over. When the powerplay ended, the Kangaroo team’s score was 33 runs and they had also lost 3 important wickets.
Afghanistan team made a comeback as soon as Maxwell and Stoinis’ partnership broke
From here Glenn Maxwell tried to handle the innings from one end in which he got the support of Marcus Stoinis, a partnership of 39 runs was seen between the two for the fourth wicket. Stoinis became the victim of Gulbadin Naib after playing an innings of 11 runs in 17 balls. With the breaking of this partnership, Afghanistan team got a chance to make a comeback in the match in which they sent half the Kangaroo team to the pavilion till the score of 85.
Also Read: USA vs ENG: Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados Pitch Report (T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8)
Gulbadin Naib ensured the victory of the Afghan team by sending Maxwell to the pavilion
Glenn Maxwell also lost his wicket at a crucial time after playing an innings of 59 runs in 41 balls in this match and with his return to the pavilion, the Afghanistan team completely dominated the match. Matthew Wade was out after scoring 5 runs, Pat Cummins 3 runs and Ashton Agar was out after scoring just 2 runs. In this match, while bowling for the Afghanistan team, Gulbadin Naib took 4 wickets, Naveen Ul Haq took 3 while Mohammad Nabi, Omarzai and Rashid Khan took 1 wicket each.
This is the position of the teams in the points table in Group 1 of Super 8
After Australia’s defeat in the match against Afghanistan in Super 8, now which two teams from Group 1 in Super 8 will secure their place in the semi-finals will be decided by the last two matches of this group, in one of which the Indian team will face Australia while in the second match the Afghanistan team will play against Bangladesh. Currently, the Indian team is at the first position in the points table of this group with 4 points while Australia is at the second position with 2 points and the Afghan team is also at the third position with 2 points. On the other hand, the Bangladesh team has not been able to open its account after 2 matches so far. This is the first win of the Afghanistan team against the Australian team in any format.