Afghanistan Defeats Bangladesh to Enter Semi-Finals for the First Time

Afghanistan entered the semi-finals; Bangladesh lost the last hope to compete in the finals. Australia got knocked out of the ICC Men’s T20I World Cup 2024.

In the aftermath of the contest between Afghanistan and Bangladesh on 25th June at the Arnos Vale Ground, a lot happened.

Australia gets knocked out of the T20 World Cup 2024. Afghanistan is set to confront England in the Semi-Final 1 at the Brian Lara Stadium, Tarouba, Trinidad. Afghanistan has entered the semifinals of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup for the first time. 

First Innings – AFG vs BAN T20

Afghanistan won the toss and decided to bat first.

Gurbaz and Zadran opened the innings and Gurbaz was the only batsman to score higher runs for the team. Things went quite slow for Afghanistan as before the fall of Zadran’s wicket in the 10.4 over, AFG was at 59-1. Rishad delivered a ball, and Zadran lofted it up on the leg side, but Tanzim took the catch. Zadran scored 18 runs off 29 balls.

Afghanistan was working well on protecting the wickets but scoring runs matters the most. In the 15.5 over, Azmatullah was dismissed after scoring 10 runs off 12 balls. In the next ball, Gurbaz got dismissed in the 16.1 over. With their slow pace, Afghanistan was able to score 115 runs at a loss of 5 wickets.

Rishad Hossain took 3 wickets, dismissing Gurbaz, Zadran, and Gulbadin. Taskin and Mustafizur took 1 wicket each.

Second Innings - AFG vs BAN T20

Bangladesh’s opener Litton Das stood on the pitch till the last ball. Like a rock, Litton confronted every blow from Afghanistan bowlers. None of the batsmen partnered well with him to lead the team towards the target score.

4 batsmen got out for 0 runs, including Tanzid Hasan, Shakib Al Hasan, Rishad Hossain and Mustafizur. This is not the kind of performance a team should present in the qualifying match for the semi-finals.

Poor batting along with unexpected rain increased worry for Bangladesh. Since the match was reduced to 19 overs, the DLS target became 114 but Bangladesh got whitewashed in the 17.5 overs.

Eventually, Afghanistan won the match by 8 runs.

What’s Next?

With this win, Afghanistan enters the semi-final and will compete against South Africa on 27th June at the Brian Lara Stadium, Tarouba, Trinidad. South Africa is a strong team, maintaining its winning streak and leaving no chance to defeat the opposing team. Afghanistan must bring out their best to defeat South Africa and enter the final match of the Twenty20 World Cup 2024.

The winning team will confront either India or England in the final of the ICC Men’s T20I World Cup 2024.

Keep following ScoreWaves for every update on the 2024 T20 World Cup.

Also read - India Qualifies for the Semi-Finals, Defeating Australia