Afghanistan bowling allrounder Gulbadin Naib with his impressive bowling spell grabbed a clinical victory against mighty Australia in their Super 8 clash at St Vincent. Afghanistan ended the Australian streak of registering the most consecutive wins in T20 World Cups.
Afghanistan shined in both bat and ball against Australia and clinched the 21 runs victory at St Vincent. Notably, the victory against Australia is the maiden victory for Afghanistan in the Super 8 stage.
In batting innings, Afghanistan opening duo Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran scripted history by scoring the most 100+ partnerships in T20 World Cups. Though the duo made an impressive start, Australian bowlers contained Afghans for 148.
Notably, Australian pace sensation Pat Cummins becomes the first bowler to bag more than one hat-trick in T20 World Cup history. On the other hand, Afghanistan bowlers executed an impressive bowling spell and bagged all ten wickets for 127 runs with four balls left to bowl.
That’s it! That’s the game for Afghanistan! 🇦🇫🔥
A historic moment St. Vincent, as upsets continue to stun the #T20WorldCup2024! 💪🏻
𝐒𝐔𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝟖 👉 #AFGvAUS | #T20WorldCupOnStar (available only in India) pic.twitter.com/cdV1FknZaf
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) June 23, 2024
Speaking of the match, winning the toss, Australia opted to field first where Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran opened the inning on behalf of Afghanistan. Gurbaz and Zadran made a steady start against the aggressive Australian pace attack.
The duo scored 40 runs in the first powerplay and survived without losing a wicket. Afghan batters maintained a steady inning and started to build a partnership but with a slower run rate.
Gurbaz and Zadran took eight overs to reach the fifty runs mark which is roughly 6.5 runs per over. With a boundary in the final of the 10th over, Afghanistan scored 64 runs without losing a wicket.
The duo started to shift the momentum and secured their 100 runs mark in the middle of the 14th over.
A stunning show! 🤩
After stellar half-centuries from #RahmanullahGurbaz and #IbrahimZadran, Afghanistan managed to put up a strong start! 🙌🏻
𝐒𝐔𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝟖 👉 #AFGvAUS | LIVE NOW | #T20WorldCupOnStar (available only in India) pic.twitter.com/MHPLOhDa4R
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) June 23, 2024
While the Afghan openers were expected to execute an aggressive knock in the death over, Australian bowlers made a bounce back and broke the partnership.
After 95 balls, Australia got their first wicket when Stoinis dismissed Gurbaz for 60 runs in the 16th over. Following his dismissal, Afghanistan started to lose wickets at regular intervals and struggled to make an impact in the final four overs.
Josh Hazlewood who played his 50th T20I game today went wicketless after spilling 39 runs in four overs. With a couple of wickets in the final over, Pat Cummins bagged his second hat-trick of the T20 World Cup 2024. At the end of 20 overs, Afghanistan scored 148 runs for 6 wickets loss.
While chasing, Australia made a struggling start and lost both opening batters cheaply. Naveen-ul-Haq dismissed Head for duck while Nabi dismissed Warner for 3 in the third over.
Captain Mitchell Marsh also failed to make an impact on the scoreboard and returned to the pavilion with a score of just 12. Glenn Maxwell who struggled with bat so far in this edition, found his mojo back and scored a 41 ball fifty and started to move his team towards the target.
Though Australia lost wickets at one end, Maxwell stood strong and dragged his team towards but Gulbadin in the 15th over turned things in the favour of Afghanistan.
Gulbadin dismissed Maxwell in the 15th over for 59 runs and scattered Australia’s hope of winning the game. Without much contribution from the lower order, the Aussies lost all their 10 wickets for 127 runs and lost the game by 21 runs.
Gulbadin Naib bagged four wickets while Naveen-ul-Haq bagged three wickets and helped Afghanistan achieve this massive feat.
