Published on: Jun 25, 2024
In a thrilling match at the T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8 stage, Afghanistan secured a historic victory over Bangladesh, advancing to their first-ever T20 World Cup semi-final. The match, held at Arnos Vale Stadium in St Vincent, was marked by multiple rain interruptions, leading to a revised target for Bangladesh.
Afghanistan, after setting a modest total of 115 for five in their innings, defended their score valiantly on a challenging pitch. Captain Rashid Khan played a pivotal role, taking four wickets for 23 runs to dismantle Bangladesh’s batting lineup. Despite a strong effort from Litton Das, who scored an unbeaten 54, Bangladesh fell short of the revised target of 114 runs from 19 overs, managing only 105 runs before being dismissed in 17.5 overs.
The decisive moment came in the penultimate over when Afghan pacer Naveen-ul-Haq claimed the last two wickets of Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman off consecutive deliveries. This breakthrough sealed Afghanistan’s victory and sparked celebrations among the Afghan team.
With this win, Afghanistan secured their spot in the semi-finals, where they will face South Africa in Trinidad. The result also had implications for Australia and Bangladesh, as it eliminated both teams from advancing further in the tournament.
Meanwhile, in another match crucial for the standings, India’s win over Australia confirmed India’s place in the second semi-final against England in Guyana. This outcome solidified Afghanistan’s position as the second team from Group 1 to progress to the semi-finals, setting up an exciting clash against South Africa.
Rashid Khan Afghanistan captain: It’s something like a dream for us as a team being in the semifinal. It’s all about the way we have started the tournament. The belief came while we beat New Zealand. It’s unbelievable, I don’t have any words to describe my feelings. Back home, everyone is so happy for this big achievement. The only guy who put us in the semifinal was Brian Lara and we proved that right. Before the competition at the welcome party, I told him, ‘We won’t let you down. We’ll make it through and prove you’re right.’ I am proud of this team. We thought 130-135 was a good total on this wicket. We were 15-20 runs short. It was all about the mindset. We knew they would come hard at us to chase that in 12 overs to get into the semifinal. That’s where we could take advantage. If we bowled into the stumps, we had a better chance to getting them out. We didn’t have to do anything extra. We just had to be clear with our plans. We put in the effort, that’s in our hands. Rain, result is not in our hands. That 100% effort is always in our hands. Everyone did a wonderful job. In T20s, we have a strong base, especially in bowling. The quality of fast bowling we have got, it’s not as fast but they are more skillful. In T20s, if you have skills, you are more effective. They have given great starts in this World Cup competition so far and it becomes easy for us (spinners) in the middle where we can go hard at the batsmen. So happy the way they have delivered. They were very clear with their mind, that’s very pleasing. Rain was on and off, but mentally we were always there. We had to play 20 overs and we had to take 10 wickets, that’s the only way to get to the semifinal, there’s no other way. Gulbadin had some cramps I think, hopefully he’ll be alright. That wicket he took was massive for us. It’s a massive celebration back home now. It’s a big achievement for us. We have done that in the Under-19 level, being in the semifinal. But in this World Cup … I don’t have any words how to describe the feeling. The country will be very proud. I am so happy the way we have delivered as a team. We took the responsibility. Being in the semis is big, now we have to go with a clear mind. We’ll have to keep things simple and make sure we enjoy the big occasion.
Najmul Hossain Shanto Bangladesh captain: I think we bowled really well, we did lots of good things but as a batting unit, we made poor decision especially in the middle overs and that’s what cost us today. The plan was to go hard in the first six overs, if we lost early wickets, the plan was to bat normally, but that didn’t happen and the middle-order couldn’t execute. The whole tournament we have bowled really well, both the pacers and the spinners, especially Rishad was great, the fast bowlers also did really well. Also, as a fielding group, we did well. The batting needs to improve, our top-order didn’t perform well. It can happen, the ball got wet and that’s a good thing. As I said, we didn’t execute well with the bat and made a lot of wrong decisions.