Spirited Afghanistan upset Australia to stay alive in T20 World Cup 2024

KINGSTOWN: Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored a gusty half-century, followed by Gulbadin Naib’s four-fer to power Afghanistan to register an upset victory over Australia in a crucial Super Eight fixture of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 here at Arnos Vale Ground on Saturday.

In a must-win game, Afghanistan bowled out Australia for 127 while defending 148, securing a famous victory and staying in contention for the semi-finals.

Naveen-ul-Haq started the defence of the total with a third-ball wicket of Travis Head (0) followed by the wicket of Australian captain Mitchell Marsh (12) in the third over.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Nabi struck on the other end to remove David Warner, who was playing at three runs off eight balls, and leave Australia reeling at 32-3 in 5.3 overs.

Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis (11) then knitted a cautious 39-run partnership to get Australia out of the trouble. However, Gulbadin Naib struck in his first over to send Stoinis back to the pavilion with 71 runs on the board.

Maxwell attacked Afghanistan bowlers from his end in an attempt to recreate his match-winning performance against the same opponent in the ODI World Cup 2023.

But, Naib dismissed Maxwell in his third over to dent Australia’s chances of a comeback after removing Tim David (2) in the last over.

Maxwell top-scored with 59 runs from 41 balls with the help of six boundaries and three sixes.

After Maxwell’s dismissal, Australia lost the last four wickets for 21 runs as they bundled for 127 runs in 19.2 overs with Azmatullah Omarzai taking the final wicket.

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Naib topped the wicket-taking chart for Afghanistan with figures of 4-20, while Naveen-ul-Haq claimed three wickets.

Earlier, Afghanistan got off to a brilliant start after being asked to bat first. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran constructed a solid 118-run opening stand from 95 balls, with both batters scoring half-centuries.

Marcus Stoinis provided Australia with the first breakthrough when he removed Gurbaz, who scored 60 runs from 49 balls with the help of four boundaries and four sixes.

Adam Zampa castled Azmatullah Omarzai (2), followed by Zadran’s wicket in his final over with 122 runs on the board. Zadran played a cautious knock of 51 runs from 48 balls, featuring six boundaries.

In the next over, Pat Cummins went on to create history taking his second consecutive hat-trick in T20I history. He struck on the last ball of his third over to remove Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan (2) before dismissing Karim Janat (13) and Gulbadin Naib (0) on the first two deliveries of his final over.

Cummins could have had four wickets in four balls, but Warner dropped Nangeyalia Kharote (1*) on the next ball.

Mohammad Nabi (10*) hit the last ball for four to take Afghanistan’s total to 148-6 in their allocated 20 overs.

For Australia, Cummins claimed three wickets, while Zampa managed two wickets.

READ: Pat Cummins sets record with back-to-back hat-tricks