The first major upset of the Super 8 stage of the ICCT20 World Cup has come to light, Afghanistan avenged their World Cup 2023 defeat by defeating Australia by 21 runs.
The entire Australian team was bowled out for 127 runs in 19.2 overs chasing Afghanistan’s 148 runs.
In pursuit of the target, the Kangaroos did not have a good start, Travis Head was bowled by Naveen-ul-Haq for no runs after playing three balls, T20 specialist David Warner could only score 3 runs.
Captain Mitchell Marsh’s resistance was limited to just 12 runs, Glenn Maxwell was the most prominent batsman who played an innings of 59 runs, Marcus Stoins’ innings could not go beyond 12 runs. Adam Zampa scored 9 runs.
Gulbuddin Naib was the standout bowler for Afghanistan who hunted 4 Australian batters, Naveen ul Haq also dismissed 3 kangaroos, Rashid Khan, Azmatullah Umarzai and Muhammad Nabi dismissed one player each.
Earlier in the match played in St. Vincent, Australia won the toss and invited Afghanistan to bat first. Afghanistan scored 148 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in the allotted 20 overs.
Afghanistan’s openers built a century partnership but a partnership of 118 runs in 15.5 overs deprived the team of a big score.
Rehmanullah Garbaz scored 60 and Ibrahim Zardan scored 51 runs, Karim Jannat scored 13 runs.
On behalf of the Kangaroos, Pat Cummins dismissed 3 players while Adam Zampa took 2 wickets and Marcus Stoins took 1 wicket.
Squad:
Afghanistan: Rehmatullah Garbaz, Ibrahim Zardan, Gulbuddin Naib, Azmatullah Umarzai, Muhammad Nabi, Karim Jannat, Nangyalia Kharote, Rashid Khan (capt), Noor Ahmed, Naveen Haq, Fazl Haq Farooqui.
Australia: Travis Head, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh (captain), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoins, Tim David, Matthew Wade, Pete Cummins, Ashton Agar, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood