New Delhi: A sprightly Afghanistan stunned Australia in the T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8 clash, handing them a 21-run defeat at the Arnos Vale Ground in St. Vincent on Sunday. This is their first international win against Australia out of the six meetings that they have held. The Afghan bowlers sizzled during the Australian run-chase as they firmly denied them inching closer to a semi-final berth and rather kept their hopes for the same alive. They have got back to the winnings ways after going down two games in succession, pulling off a historic victory.
The win is gigantic in terms of the opponents they have given a run for their money. The mighty Australians looked to have continued their unbeaten run but the Afghanistan team never fails to surprise. They were on to something similar like the ODI World Cup 2023 held in India, upsetting the heavyweights, and have done it yet again, but the win is far from an upset. It comes from a side which has established themselves as the new heavyweight and has scraped off the “minnow” tag that they once had.
Afghanistan bury the demons of 2023 💥
A historic #T20WorldCup victory for Afghanistan 🤩
📝 #AFGvAUS: https://t.co/wXEyJ9HIRY pic.twitter.com/iIuoGTdyf6
— ICC (@ICC) June 23, 2024
In what can be called as a huge moment for Afghanistan cricket as they took down the mighty Australia, the crunch game looked more in favor of the Kangaroos. As Mitchell Marsh invited the Afghans to bat first, they posted a below-par score of 148/6 in 20 overs which indeed looked like a piece of cake for the batters like Australia.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (60 off 49) and Ibrahim Zadran (51 off 48) put up a 118-run stand for the opening wicket that set the tone for the Afghan innings but the upcoming batters didn’t capitalise at all. Pat Cummins took another hat-trick to establish a new T20I record followed by Adam Zampa’s two wickets and Marcus Stoinis too chipping in for a scalp.
The Afghan openers too registered a few records, becoming the only opening pair in the ongoing event to have breach the 100-run partnership mark for three times. No other team has even started off yet in the race. They also went past the biggies to etch their name in the T20 World Cup history.
Most 100+ partnerships in a single T20 WC
3 – R Gurbaz & Ibrahim Zadran in 2024
2 – A Gilchrist & M Hayden in 2007
2 – Rohit Sharma & Virat Kohli in 2014
2 – Babar Azam & M Rizwan in 2021
Most 100+ partnerships in T20 WCs
3 – Babar Azam & M Rizwan
3 – R Gurbaz & Ibrahim Zadran
Gulbadin Naib overshadows Pat Cummins’ consecutive hat-tricks
It was a night to remember for Afghanistan and their fans as the Aussies were bundled out at 127 in 19.2 overs, courtesy of a lethal Afghan bowling attack that dismantled the batters. The game looked to be replicating itself from the ODI World Cup 2023 clash between the two teams when Afghanistan were very close to giving Australia a setback but Glenn Maxwell had some other plans.
The Australia all-rounder looked to continue the same turn of events as he blasted 59 runs off 41 balls to give Afghanistan a scare who found solace in none other than Gulbadin Naib (POTM). The veteran Afghan all-rounder was introduced into the attack after the powerplay and turned fortunes for his team right afterward, having none of what Australia offered. He removed the likes of Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, and Cummins to give fans a continuous sight of his trademark biceps celebration that even came out when he picked up a fabulous catch to make Ashton Agar depart.
WHAT A PERFORMANCE 👏
Gulbadin Naib is awarded the @aramco POTM after his stunning effort played a pivotal role in sealing a famous victory for Afghanistan 🏅 #T20WorldCup #AFGvAUS pic.twitter.com/1udQV7Wuvx
— ICC (@ICC) June 23, 2024
The opening pair of Travis Head and David Warner terribly failed as no Australia batter other than Maxwell scored big as they took a blow on their winning streak that halted at eight T20Is wins and five at the ongoing World Cup. Naib’s figures stood at 4/20 followed by Naveen-ul-Haq’s 3/20 and Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, and Rashid Khan picking a wicket each.
Gulbadin Naib and Naveen-ul-Haq breathed fire at the Arnos Vale Ground in St. Vincent as they scattered the Australian batting line-up and helped Afghanistan register a momentous win by 21 runs on Saturday. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
