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After a thrilling 21-run victory over Australia, Afghanistan kept their 2024 T20 World Cup semi-final hopes alive in a Group 1 clash. The celebration started on the field and continued onto the team bus from Arnos Vale Ground in Kingstown to their hotel. Mohammad Nabi shared moments on social media, capturing the Afghanistan team singing and dancing to their bowling coach Dwayne Bravo’s anthem, ‘Champions’.
Despite Pat Cummins’ back-to-back hat-tricks on Sunday, Afghanistan managed to post 148/6 after opting to bat on a challenging pitch.
Opening batsmen Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran set the stage with a record 118-run partnership against Australia in T20 matches. Australia’s bowlers, however, mounted a comeback late in the innings, highlighted by Cummins’ historic feat of securing two hat-tricks within days.
Australia struggled in their reply, eventually collapsing for 127 runs. Glenn Maxwell showed resilience with a score of 59 off 41 balls against Afghanistan’s formidable bowling attack and the tricky pitch conditions.
Gulbadin Naib’s superb spell in the middle overs, where he claimed four crucial wickets, stalled Australia’s chase. Azmatullah Omarzai sealed Afghanistan’s victory with the dismissal of Adam Zampa in the final over, prompting jubilant celebrations among the Afghan players and management.
“It’s a massive win for us as a team and as a nation in the World Cup beating (the) champions,” captain Rashid Khan said.
Afghanistan’s win propels them to two points in Group 1, tying with Australia but trailing on net run rate. India leads with four points. Bangladesh, despite two losses, retain a chance to qualify for the semifinals.
Group standings will be determined on Monday with Afghanistan facing Bangladesh in St. Vincent and Australia meeting India in St. Lucia.
