T20 World Cup 2024: Bangladesh vs Afghanistan: After Naveen-ul-Haq gave Bangladesh a two-wicket over to put them on the back foot, the rain once again delayed play. Shakib Al Hasan and Najmul Shanto were defeated by him. Tanzid Hasan was fired by Fazalhaq Farooqi, who took the first blood. In 3.2 overs, Bangladesh is at 31/3. Earlier, the rain started to fall shortly after Rashid Khan’s six to end the Afghanistan innings. The skipper’s late cameo helped them score 115/5 in 20 overs. Afghanistan scored just 27 earlier, unable to capitalise on the powerplay. In the crucial match on Tuesday, Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan won the toss and chose to bat first against Bangladesh. After defeating Australia in their previous game, the Afghans made the decision to stick with their strategy. Bangladesh, however, makes a few adjustments.
With Bangladesh standing as the final obstacle in their path to securing a spot in the final four match against South Africa, Rashid Khan and company have their sights set on a semi-final berth. After defeating Australia on Monday night, Team India’s task has become easier; Afghanistan now only needs to defeat Bangladesh without worrying about the NRR. Afghanistan’s lower NRR than Australia’s means that they will be eliminated from the T20 World Cup following their defeat. Bangladesh, on the other hand, is still in the running for the semi-finals despite losing their first two Super 8 matches. However, their task is not an easy one; they need to defeat the Afghan team by 62 runs (after scoring, say, 160) or win in 12.5 overs (chasing 160), in order to move their net run rate (NRR) above that of Australia and Afghanistan.
In their eleven T20I meetings, the two sides have met once. Afghanistan has a slim advantage over the Bangla Tigers, having defeated them six times to five. As for the T20 World Cup, Bangladesh had the upper hand over them because they emerged victorious from their lone match in the major ICC event.
Afghanistan defeated the formidable Australians on Saturday, increasing their prospects of reaching their first-ever World Cup semifinal. With a fierce performance, Rashid and company defeated Australia in an international cricket match for the first time ever.
Having exacted revenge on Australia for their ODI World Cup loss in Mumbai last year, the Afghans will be full of confidence.
They would be optimistic about their chances against a desperate Bangladesh, who appeared content to make it to the Super Eights.
Bangladesh, however, has already abandoned the fight. Despite their extremely slim chances of making it to the semifinals, their confidence has been damaged by consecutive losses to Australia and India.
Senior all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan stated on Saturday, “To be honest, I don’t think we have a chance to play the semi-finals anymore after this loss (against India).”
Mitchell Marsh, the captain of Australia, is counting on Bangladesh to help them advance to the semifinals following their loss to India.
It is disheartening. There is still theoretically a possibility to advance, but India defeated us today. Although there are a lot of close games in 40 overs, in my opinion, India was the superior team. If you can hold it at tens for the duration of the chase, you’re in it, but India was too strong for us. Bangladesh, wake up!” Marsh stated during the post-game press conference.
Highlights from the Super 8 T20 World Cup match between Afghanistan and Bangladesh
- Litton Das hits a valiant half-century to help Bangladesh surpass the 100-run threshold.
- Following a second rain delay, Rashid Khan claimed four wickets to dismiss Bangladesh 7 down.
- Naveen-ul-Haq scored twice in a row of consecutive deliveries.
- Late-game cameo from Rashid Khan helped AFG achieve 115/5.
- Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored 43 runs off 55 balls despite missing a half-century.
- In the first half, Bangladesh was wicketless with AFG scoring 58/0 in 10 overs.
- In powerplay, the Afghan openers appeared stale, scoring 27/0 in 6 overs.
- Rashid Khan made the decision to bat first.
