T20 World Cup results: Afghanistan reach semi-final for first time

ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, Super 8s Group 1, St Vincent

Afghanistan 115- 5 ( 20 overs ): Gurbaz 43 ( 55 ), Rishad 3- 26

Bangladesh 105 all out ( 17.5 overs ): Das 54* ( 49 ), Rashid 4- 23, Naveen 4- 26

Afghanistan won by 8 runs ( DLS method )

Checklist. Chairs

Afghanistan defeated Bangladesh in a low-scoring common in St Vincent to advance to the semi-finals of a World Cup for the first time in their past.

With their defeat, they move up to Super 8s Group 1 and qualify for the tournament’s second-place finishers, while superstars Australia and their opponents are excluded.

Afghanistan performed poorly in the first innings, giving Bangladesh a small goal of 115 as the match approached the knockout stage.

A spiral, rain-sitting second innings, in which both teams and therefore Australia appeared to be favorites to win the match.

In the end, Afghanistan triumphed, with Rashid Khan and Naveen ful Haq taking four innings each for a total loss of only eight runs.

They are one match away from facing either England or India in the semi-finals on Saturday at Trinidad ( 0:30 BST ), and they will now face South Africa in the semi-finals.

To count on online run-rate, their opponents, who were also aiming to reach their first World Cup semi-final, needed to win by a sizable ratio.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran, who both fell to Rishad Hossain (3-26 ), were a successful first-team Afghanistan opener.

Bangladesh knew they needed to win in 12.1 overs to increase their net run-rate ( NRR ), but they were prevented by Naveen and veteran Shakib al Hasan’s successive deliveries in the third over.

The Tigers were still in argument for a comfort win that would have allowed Australia to advance over their opponents, but commander Rashid won the match 4 to 23 before Naveen took the final two Bengal wickets, either side of a delay in rain, to start ecstatic cheers.

Afghanistan’s semi-final qualification was another significant step in the amazing journey they’ve taken since winning the T20 World Cup in 2010.

They have established themselves as enduring tournament qualifiers after breaking through a slog of qualifying events in their nine previous World Cup strategies, which have included both T20s and OD Is, but they have already exited before the knockout sessions.

They made it through the first of two party phases of the contest this year, finishing runners-up in Group C, but suffered significant defeat in their last game against the West Indies, and were quickly overcame by India in the Super 8s first meet.

But, they came up from a run-of-the-mill beat on Sunday to put themselves in the lead for the semi-final battle of Bangladesh.

Gurbaz and Zadran’s openers scored a ton of runs in the first pitches, which helped them greatly in this game, but the pair were struggling and reached 58 at the halfway point.

Zadran fell soon after, but Gurbaz held back, eventually falling for 43 off 56 pellets in the 17th over, his part only surviving the hundred-point level.

Bangladesh had to play adventurously to have a chance of improving, and fell to 23- 3 within three innings.

However, they remained close to their goal despite brief rains, which irritated Jonathan Trott, who has coached Afghanistan since 2022, who has pushed them toward it.

However, the ex-english flour may depend on his team of top bowlers to ensure the writing of a new chapter in Afghanistan’s storied cricketing career was done in St Vincent.