Afghanistan won the toss and gave Bangladesh a target of 116 runs. One over was cut due to rain. Then Bangladesh got a target of 114 runs in 19 overs.
The Afghanistan team made history under the captaincy of Rashid Khan at the St. Vincent Stadium in the West Indies. Afghanistan defeated Bangladesh and made it to the semi-finals for the first time in World Cup history.
With Afghanistan’s victory, Australia was eliminated from the World Cup. Australia won only one of the 3 matches in the Super-8 and has 2 points. Afghanistan won 2 matches and entered the semi-finals with 4 points.
Now on June 27, Afghanistan will face South Africa in the semi-final in Trinidad at 6 am Indian time. Team India will play the semi-final against England in Guyana at 8 pm on the same day.
In today’s match against Bangladesh, Rashid Khan won the toss and decided to bat first. Afghanistan gave a target of 115 runs. Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored the highest score of 43 runs.
Bangladesh’s wickets kept falling continuously while chasing the runs. Liton Das alone stood firm. Liton remained unbeaten and scored 54 runs in 49 balls, but no batsman could stay at the other end. Bangladesh’s team was all out for 105 runs.
Afghanistan pacer Naveen Ul Haq took 2 consecutive wickets in the 18th over and won the match in Afghanistan’s favour. Captain Rashid also took 4 wickets in this match.
See the moments of the match in pictures…
Afghan captain Rashid Khan celebrates with teammate Gulbadin Naib after their win over Bangladesh.
Afghan wicketkeeper Mohammad Ishaque appeals against Bangladesh batsman Liton Das.
Afghan captain Rashid Khan celebrates after dismissing Bangladesh batsman Soumya Sarkar.
Afghan captain Rashid Khan and wicketkeeper Mohammad Ishak celebrate the wicket of Bangladesh batsman Soumya Sarkar on the ground.
Afghanistan player Ibrahim Zadran celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman.
Afghan captain Rashid Khan hugs teammate Gulbadin Naib after the win over Bangladesh.
Captain Rashid Khan hugs head coach Jonathan Trott after Afghanistan reached the semi-finals.
Afghan team captain Rashid celebrating with Hazratullah Zazai, he looked very emotional.
Afghanistan all-rounder Gulbadin Naib celebrates with teammates after win over Bangladesh.
Match Winner: Naveen Ul Haq
Defending a total of 115 runs in a T20 match is a difficult task, but Afghan pacer Naveen Ul Haq did it with his brilliant bowling. Rashid Khan gave him the first over. Naveen did not get a wicket in the first over, but in his second over, Naveen took 2 consecutive wickets. The first wicket was of captain Nazmul Hasan Shanto. The second wicket was of the world’s top all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan. He caught Shakib’s catch in the follow-through. In the powerplay, Naveen took 2 wickets in 3 overs.
Naveen’s story did not end here. Naveen’s comeback came in the 18th over, when Bangladesh had lost 8 wickets and needed 12 runs from 12 balls to win. Singles came on the first 3 balls. Taskin Ahmed was facing the fourth ball, Naveen bowled the ball, which hit the bat and collided with the stumps.
Now there was only one wicket between Afghanistan and victory, but it started raining. The rain stopped in 2 minutes and all the players came on the field. Naveen had 2 balls left and Bangladesh had one wicket. Mustafizur Rahman was in front.
Naveen bowled a fast ball which came in and hit Mustafizur’s legs. The umpire declared him LBW out. The decision was the same in DRS as well. Afghanistan won. Naveen took 4 wickets.
Hero of victory
rashid khan
When the Afghanistan captain came to bowl in the 7th over, Bangladesh had lost 3 wickets for 46 runs. Rashid took advantage of the pressure and dismissed Soumya Sarkar on the third ball itself. After this Rashid returned in the 9th over. This time he sent Tauheed Hridoy to the pavilion. In the 11th over, Rashid Khan took 2 wickets in 2 balls.
First, he got experienced batsman Mahmudullah caught by the wicketkeeper. On the very next ball, he bowled out Rishad Hossain. Rashid played a winning role by taking 4 wickets in 4 overs.
Rehmanullah Gurbaz
Gurbaz played an innings of 43 runs. This innings of 55 balls was quite slow in terms of T-20, but took Afghanistan to a score of 115. Gurbaz hit 3 fours and 1 six. He shared a partnership of 59 runs with Ibrahim Zadran. This was the biggest partnership of this match.
Reasons for Afghanistan’s victory
- Rashid Khan’s Captaincy: Captain Rashid Khan had a very small total to defend but he used his bowlers well. Gave the first over to Naveen in the powerplay, he started this change against Australia. He got results for it. Naveen got him 2 wickets in the powerplay. Fazal Haq Farooqui was made to bowl from the right end, he also got a wicket in the powerplay. After this, Noor Ahmed and his 4 overs were used well. 8 bowlers were used in the last match, but only 6 bowlers were used against Bangladesh. The field placement was done in such a way that boundaries could be saved and batsmen could be stopped from taking singles.
- Afghanistan’s all round performance: In batting, Afghanistan scored only one big innings, that of Gurbaz. But his 59-run partnership with Zadran proved to be enough to fight against Bangladesh. In fielding, Afghanistan saved boundaries, took catches. They were economical in bowling, no bowler’s economy went beyond 7.5. Wickets continuously
- The fall put Bangladesh under pressure.
Turning Point: Naveen Ul Haq’s last over
Rashid gave the 18th over to Naveen Ul Haq. Bangladesh needed 12 runs then. An experienced batsman like Liton Das was on the crease and there were 2 wickets left. Rashid also had the option of Gulbadin Naib, who had taken 4 wickets in the last match, and top wicket taker Fazal Haq Farooqui, but Rashid chose Naveen. 3 singles came on Naveen’s first 3 balls. Bangladesh now needed 9 runs. But Naveen bowled Taskin Ahmed on a slower offcutter. After this, he gave the victory to Bangladesh by taking the wicket of Mustafizur on a brilliant inswinger.
