The Afghanistan team, under the captaincy of Rashid Khan, has done an incredible job by getting the back of Australia during their second ‘super-eight’ clash in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, at the Arnos Vale Ground, in Kingstown, St Vincent. With the win, they keep themselves alive in the tournament.
The Asian side was coming into the contest on the back of their loss against India, in Barbados, while Australia, who were unbeaten for the whole course of the group stage, had already enjoyed their opening game of the ‘super eight’ stage against Bangladesh at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.
The Afghanistan team was already wounded after their defeat in the last ODI World Cup in Mumbai, where they were ahead in the game, only to get behind by an excellent knock from Glenn Maxwell, who ended up with a match-winning knock of unbeaten 201 runs.
Afghanistan earns historic win over Australia to stay alive
Winning the toss on a dry surface, the Australia captain Mitchell Marsh invited the Afghanistan side to bat first, as they dropped Mitchell Starc to get Ashton Agar in the playing eleven. In the opening stand Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran put up an unbeaten 118-run partnership as both celebrated their respective fifties.
Gurbaz ended up with 60 runs in 49 balls, with the help of four boundaries, and as many as sixes, while the other opener, Zadran notched up 51 runs in 48 balls thanks to his six boundaries. Mohammad Nabi chipped in with an unbeaten 10-run knock in four balls.
Pat Cummins, for the second consecutive game, recorded a hat-trick as his figures of 3/28 in four overs, helped them restrict the opponent side to 148/6 in their 20-overs. The track felt a little slow, but the only way the Afghanistan side could win the game was by taking regular wickets.
On the third ball of the chase, Australia lost their opener Travis Head for a duck, as Naveen Ul Haq showed his ability with the new ball. Mitchell Marsh kept on struggling in the tournament, while David Warner could make only three runs in eight balls.
The Rashid Khan-led side again started with a bang, as they faced Maxwell in the middle. The latter was going through a lean phase for the last three months in this format, but he showed his capability with an excellent knock of 53 runs in 41 balls, with the help of six boundaries and three sixes.
Once he got out, the whole batting line-up fell like a pack of cards, as the 2021 champions lost their last five wickets for just 21 runs, and were blown away for 126 runs in 19.2 overs.
This was the first time they defeated this opponent on six occasions, while their unbeaten streak of eight wins in the T20 World Cup 2024 has ended. But the current Australia opener Usman Khawaja takes a different look at this victory.
‘Well done Brother. Better team on the day. You boys are an inspiration for so many back home and abroad. So sad we can’t see you all play in Australia.’ Khawaja wrote in the ‘X’ handle.
The win for Afghanistan has been quite sweet but it doesn’t take away the fact that half of their population has been suffering and that isn’t only in playing the sport, but also in the educational structure. The South African side was banned just before the World Cup due to racial apartheid, and what’s going on in Afghanistan is nothing short of gender apartheid.
The women of the country are not getting the same privilege and access as the men’s side are getting, and that shows the other portion of the current world. Cricket Australia (CA) has already decided not to play against Afghanistan in a bilateral series due to ‘a marked deterioration in human rights for women and girls in the country. The development of this aspect will be more interesting now.