Afghanistan won the toss and opt to bat
The groundmen rush in with the covers as it continues to drizzle. Infact, it’s raining cats and dogs in St Vincent now. Bangladesh will be pleased to have restricted Afghanistan to a slightly below-par total. Once again, the pair of Gurbaz and Ibrahim started cautiously and kept the scoreboard ticking. The Bangladesh new ball bowlers were on the money upfront. Tanzim Sakib did give away some extras though. The strike rotation was on point from the opening duo but they weren’t able to find the boundaries consistently. At the halfway stage, Afghanistan were 58/0. When the time came to accelerate, they lost wickets in a heap, 5 wickets for 34 runs to be precise. Taskin bowled a maiden against Gurbaz in the 12th over and that put the opposition under further pressure. Shakib was at his probing best while Rishad picked up three wickets. Mustafizur was brilliant at the death and so was Taskin. Rashid hit a couple of sixes in the last over to give his side a fighting chance. The wicket is two-paced though and the Bangladeshi batters have been susceptible throughout the tournament. Ian Smith on-air mentioned that Bangladesh need to chase this target within 12.1 overs to make it to the semis. Meanwhile, a win or no result will suffice for Afghanistan.
Most wickets in a T20 WC edition for Bangladesh
14 – Rishad Hossain in 2024
11 – Shakib Al Hasan in 2021
11 – Tanzim Hasan Sakib in 2024
10 – Al-Amin Hossain in 2014
10 – Shakib Al Hasan in 2016
Oh my! Let’s all catch a breather. What a game we have witnessed! There couldn’t have been a better way to end the Super 8 stage. Afghanistan have booked their place in the semi-final and in the process knocked Australia out of the World Cup. The Afghanistan players are doing a lap of the ground. They have their own supporters but the West Indian people too were rooting for them and it is only fair to thank them. Some of the players have the Afghanistan flag wrapped around them. The tears have turned into elation now. Gurbaz is limping but is still following his team mates. Rashid has been lifted on the shoulder. What a servant he has been for his country! They needed him today and he led them from the front. Credit to each and every player for giving their everything.
There was everything in this game; drama, entertainment, suspense, jubilation and satisfaction. No movie could have such plot twists like this encounter. The chase started with three teams – Australia, Afghanistan and Bangladesh – still in the hunt for a semi-final spot. There were equations for each and that’s what made it exciting. Bangladesh needed to chase 115 in 12.4 overs to book their spot, Australia needed a Bangladesh win after 12.4 overs and Afghanistan needed just a win. Litton started off with a bang but the pace duo of Farooqi and Naveen struck thrice in two overs to bring the contest back in balance. There were a few rain stoppages and the equation kept changing. Litton kept going from one end even as Rashid spun a web around the middle order. Bangladesh gave up their semi-final hopes after the 10-over mark and concentrated on winning the game. But a few rash shots and a Naib bouncing out Sakib turned it in Afghanistan’s favour. Litton was still there and Bangladesh believed with 12 needed off the last 2 overs but Naveen struck off consecutive deliveries to give Afghanistan their greatest ever win.
Naveen-ul-Haq | Player of the Match: Thank you so much, I want to thank mighty Allah for this achievement, we have worked hard for this since the last few years, we were dreaming and working for this day and it’s a surreal feeling. We always knew that they would go hard in the powerplay to chase the total down in 12.1 overs, so we knew we were in the game, the plan was simple – to mix it up and we got crucial wickets in the powerplay. These are the games you never know what can happen, after a boundary, you feel the game is gone, but a wicket brings you back in the game, so the margin for error is very small. These kinds of wickets are not high-scoring ones so you are always in the game. We have worked hard for this and we are in the semis, we are very happy.
Carrying bat through a completed T20I innings
Chris Gayle (West Indies) vs Sri Lanka, The Oval, T20 WC 2009 SF
Richmond Baaleri (Ghana) vs Botswana, Benoni, 2023
Litton Das (Bangladesh) vs Afghanistan, Kingstown, 2024 T20 WC
– 5 wins are the most for Afghanistan in a T20 WC edition, surpassing 4 in 2016.
Naveen-ul-Haq vs LHBs in T20 WC 2024
Balls: 46
Runs conceded: 48
Wickets: 8
Avg: 6
SR: 5.75
ER: 6.26
Dots: 25
Most 4-wicket hauls in Men’s T20Is
9 – Rashid Khan (AFG)
8 – Shakib Al Hasan (BAN)
7 – Henry Ssenyondo (UGA)
Two bowlers with 4-wicket hauls in a T20 WC innings
Umar Gul (4/25) & Shahid Afridi (4/19) vs SCO, Durban, 2007
Mujeeb Rahman (5/20) & Rashid Khan (4/9) vs SCO, Sharjah, 2021
Fazalhaq Farooqi (4/17) & Rashid Khan (4/17) vs NZ, Providence, 2024
Rashid Khan (4/23) & Naveen-ul-Haq (4/26) vs BAN, Kingstown, 2024
Najmul Hossain Shanto | Bangladesh captain: I think we bowled really well, we did lots of good things but as a batting unit, we made poor decision especially in the middle overs and that’s what cost us today. The plan was to go hard in the first six overs, but we lost wickets in the powerplay and the middle-order couldn’t execute. The whole tournament we have bowled really well, both the pacers and the spinners, especially Rishad the new guy, the fast bowlers also did really well. Also, as a fielding group, we did well. The batting needs to improve, the top-order didn’t perform well. It can happen, the ball got wet and that’s a good thing. As I said, we didn’t execute well with the bat and made a lot of wrong decisions.
Rashid Khan | Afghanistan captain: It’s something like a dream for us as a team being in the semifinal. It’s all about the way we have started the tournament. The belief came while we beat NZ. I don;t have any words to describe the feeling. The only guy who put us in the semifinal was Brian Lara and we proved it right. I told him we won;t let you down. We thought 130-135 was a good total on this wicket. We were 15-20 runs short. It was all about mindset. We knew they would come hard at us to chase that in 12 overs. That’s where we could take advantage, We just had to be clear with our plans. We put in the effort, that’s in our hands. Everyone did a wonderful job. In T20s, we have a strong base, especially in bowling. The quality of fast bowling we have, they are skillful. They have great starts in this competition and it makes our job easier in the middle. Rain was on and off, but mentally we were there. We had to take 10 wickets, that’s the only way to get to the semifinal, there’s no other way. Gulbadin had some cramps I think, hopefully he’ll be alright. That wicket he took was massive for us. It’s a massive celebration back home. The country will be very proud back home. Being in the semis is big now, we have to go with a clear mind. We’ll have to keep things simple and make sure we enjoy the big occasion.