On June 25, 2024 Afghanistan scripted history by qualifying for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final by beating Bangladesh in St Vincent. This will be their maiden T20 World Cup semi finals appearance since their debut in 2010.
Rashid Khan and Naveen-ul-Haq played vital roles with the ball in Afghanistan’s record-scripting game against Bangladesh. Both Bangladesh and Afghanistan players kept the match alive till the last moment and Afghans won the battle with their tight bowling attack.
With many twists and turns in the rain-affected game, Bangladesh had the upper hand at one point of the game but Afghan bowlers proved their worth by strangling the Bangladesh batters towards end of the inning.
None of the batters other than Litton Das had reached the 20 runs mark. The victory not only took Afghanistan into the semifinals but also knocked Australia out of the tournament who was left with a back door entry option with the victory of Bangladesh.
𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 👉🏻 𝐒𝐄𝐌𝐈-𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐒 𝐎𝐅 #T20WorldCup2024! 🇧🇩
Ecstatic scenes at St Vincent, and tears of joy flow as #NaveenulHaq wins it for Afghanistan while also knocking out the mighty Aussies! 🙌🏻
Watch them next in action 👉🏻 Semi Final 1 | SA 🆚 AFG |… pic.twitter.com/eGLE97Z108
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) June 25, 2024
Speaking of the match, Afghanistan decided to bat first after winning the toss while Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zardan opened the inning.
Batting first, Afghnas made a slow start like they did against Australia and gave importance to building the partnership which could fire during the second half of the inning. the duo managed to score only 27 runs in their first powerplay and was expected to make an explosive batting attack.
But Bangladesh’s tight bowling spell struggled the Afghan openers which made them score only 58 runs at the end of 10 overs. With 50 runs stand, Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz registered the most fifty-plus stands for Afghanistan in T20Is (any wicket).
Rishad Hossain in the 11th over finally broke the long-standing opening partnership by dismissing Ibrahim Zadran for 18 runs. With the dismissal, Afghans started to struggle with a dip in the run rate.
With 13 off the 14th over, Afghanistan managed to score 80 runs for a wicket loss at the end of 15 overs. With back-to-back wickets and a brilliant 19th over from Mustafizur Rahman, Afghanistan scored 100 runs at the end of 19 overs.
With a couple of sixes from Rashid Khan in the final over, Afghanistan scored 115 runs for 5 wickets loss at the end of 20 overs.
While chasing, Bangladesh made a delightful start and failed to continue the momentum. Litton Das scored an impressive 13 runs in the first over but his batting partner Tanzid Hasan lost his wicket in the following over.
Fazalhaq Farooqi made the early breakthrough by trapping Tanzid in an LBW dismissal. Naveen-ul-Haq in the next over made a huge drama by dismissing Shanto and Shakib in back-to-back deliveries.
The rain interrupted the game in the middle of the fourth over and halted the game for a bit longer. Bangladesh scored 31 runs for 3 wickets in 3.2 overs at the time. With the game resumed without any overs lost, Bangladesh scored 46 runs for three wickets loss at the end of the first powerplay.
Rashid Khan who bowled the next over bagged another wicket by dismissing Soumya Sarkar for 10 runs. With mixed gameplay from Bangladesh, they scored 77 runs for five wickets loss at the end of 10 overs.
Rashid Khan struck again in the 11th over and bagged back-to-back wickets in the final two deliveries and moved the wickets count to seven.
In the middle of the next over, rain again intervened in the game and reduced the match to 19 overs with a revised target of 114. Though wickets start falling at one end of the game, Litton Das with his fifty kept Afghanistan in check.
With 12 needed off 12 balls, Naveen-ul-Haq dismissed Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur in consecutive deliveries and helped Afghanistan to book their semifinal spot eliminating Australia and Bangladesh.
Afghanistan will play their semi final game against South Africa on June 26 in Brian Lara Stadium, Tarouba, Trinidad.
