T20 World Cup: Afghanistan qualify for semis for the first time, Australia eliminated

• Afghanistan has beaten Bangladesh in its Super Eight match in the ongoing T20 World Cup.
• Afghanistan has qualified for the semifinals, marking its first such appearance.
• With Afghanistan’s qualification, Mitchell Marsh-led Australia has been eliminated from the tournament.

Rashid Khan-led Afghanistan has qualified for the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final after beating Bangladesh by eight runs in the Super Eights match at the Arnos Vale Ground on Tuesday.

This will mark the first appearance of Afghanistan at the semifinals of a major ICC event.

Rashid Khan and Naveen-ul-Haq led the Afghan bowling attack and helped their side defend the given target of 115. The second inning of the match was reduced to 19 overs, and the target was 114 runs after Rain played a spoilsport in the second inning.

Litton Das, who scored 54 runs not out from 49 balls was the only standout batter for Bangladesh after his unbeaten knock.

Afghanistan’s bowlers shine

Naveen-ul-Haq and Rashid Khan picked up four wickets each in their respective spells. Fazalhaq Farooqi and Gulbadin Naib also bagged one wicket each in their respective spells and helped the Afghan side win the match by eight runs.

Naveen-ul-Haq was named the 'Player of the Match' after he displayed a stupendous performance while defending the target given by Afghanistan.

Australia out of the World Cup

After the defeat of Bangladesh, Mitchell Marsh-led Australia are also out of the tournament. The Aussies ended up in third place in the Group 1 table of the Super Eights with just two points. Australia had two back-to-back defeats against Afghanistan and India.

Recapping the first inning of the match, after winning the toss, Rashid Khan-led Afghanistan decided to bat first. However, their decision did not go in their favour as they struggled to add runs to the scoreboard.

Afghanistan had a great start to the match after openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz (43 runs from 55 balls) and Ibrahim Zadran (18 runs from 29 balls) played a 59-run partnership.

Even though Bangladesh failed to take quick wickets, they were successful in keeping a check on Afghanistan's run rate in the first inning.

In the end, skipper Rashid Khan scored an unbeaten 19 runs from 10 balls powering Afghanistan to 115 runs at the end of 20 overs.

Rishad Hossain led the Bangladesh bowling attack after he picked up three wickets and gave 26 runs in his four-over spell. Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed also bagged one wicket each in their respective spells.

With inputs from ANI.

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