SAINT VINCENT: Afghanistan celebrated a historic night in their cricket history when they beat Australia by 21 runs in their Super Eight clash at the T20 World Cup 2024 in Saint Vincent.

The win on Saturday night was Afghanistan’s first ever against the 2021 T20 champions and six-time 50-over champions which also gave them a chance of qualifying for the semifinals.

“We have waited for this moment for a long time – at last, we beat Australia,” Gulbadin Naib, Afghanistan’s hero with the ball, exclaimed after the win.

Naib took four wickets in his four overs and gave away only 20 runs as Mitchell Marsh’s side was all out for 127 in 19.2 overs in their chase of 149.

Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell, whose heroics took Australia to an unlikely win against the same opponents at the 50-over World Cup in November, threatened to take the game away from Afghanistan once again until Naib dismissed him in the 15th over to set off a procession of Australian wickets.

Maxwell’s 59 runs off 41 balls was the highest score for Australia by a big margin. Marsh (12 runs) and Marcus Stoinis (11 runs) were the only other batters who managed to put on double-figure scores.

Naib also took the crucial wickets of Stoinis, lower-order batter Tim David and big-hitting bowler Pat Cummins.

“We have achieved a lot in the last 10 years, but this is a great achievement for Afghanistan cricket,” Naib said.

The veteran all-rounder admitted the wicket at the Arnos Vale Ground in Kingstown was not very easy to bat on, but hailed his team for fighting on until the end.

“The ball was not coming onto the bat easily, but it was a team effort,” he added with a wide grin.

“It’s a big achievement – our journey starts now.”

Naveen ul Haq was the other pace bowler who helped keep Australia at bay with his three wickets in four overs at an economy rate of five runs per over.

Afghanistan’s renowned spin bowling attack, led by leg-spinner and captain Rashid Khan, also kept things tight with the ball. Rashid took one wicket in his four overs giving away just 23 runs.

Off-spin bowling all-rounder Mohammad Nabi dismissed Australia’s dangerous opener David Warner for three runs in his solitary over.

‘Very important for people back home’

Afghanistan play Bangladesh at the same venue on Tuesday and will fancy their chances of beating the side that has already lost two games. A big win over Bangladesh would seal their semifinal berth.

Rashid said the win was “very important for the people back home”, who will be delighted with the double joy of opening up their chances for the semifinals.

“[It is] a massive win, especially beating [50-over] world champions in a world cup match,” Rashid said in his post-match comments.

He hailed Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran, who gave them an opening partnership of 118 runs in 15.5 overs and set the foundation for a big total.

However, the rest of the Afghan batting lineup could add only 30 more runs in the last 25 balls and the men in blue finished their innings on 148-6 in 20 overs.

Australia’s chase was dented early on when Naveen dismissed in-form opener Travis Head on the third ball of the innings.

Regular wickets and tight bowling kept the pre-tournament favourites at bay and Afghanistan wrapped up a famous win with four balls to spare.

The players and backroom staff set off wild celebrations at the end of the match.

Australia captain Marsh admitted his team were “outplayed” by a disciplined Afghan side.

They face India next in their last Super Eight match on Tuesday.

A loss against the 2007 champions would all but confirm their exit from the tournament.

Agencies

Agencies