Two days after beating Australia, Afghanistan went one step further with an incredible win over Bangladesh to advance to the semifinal of the Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. Once India beat Australia in the morning game, the requirement was clear: a win would take Afghanistan through ahead of the 2021 champions. However, Bangladesh came as a thorn in their flesh, putting in a commendable bowling performance to restrict Afghanistan to 115/5 in 20 overs. The conditions got a bit better with rain spells and Litton Das showed batting resolve but Rashid Khan (4 for 23) and Naveen Ul Haq (4 for 26) combined to take their side to the last-four.
Where the game was won:
Bangladesh would’ve comfortably gotten over the line if not for the collapse in the middle-overs. Contrastingly, Afghanistan did well to lose only one wicket in this phase even as they were in need of a move on from a slow start.
The middle-overs difference:
| Parameters | Afghanistan | Bangladesh |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 53/1 | 48/5 |
| 4s/6s | 5/1 | 6 |
| Run Rate | 5.89 | 5.34 |
Afghanistan
PowerPlay: Slow start in tough conditions
Phase score – 27/0 [RR: 4.50, 4s/6s: 3/0]
In tough batting conditions, Afghanistan openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran made a watchful start to proceedings after Rashid Khan won the toss and decided to bat. Tanzim Hasan and Taskin Ahmed got steep bounce to make the Afghan duo uncomfortable in the first couple of overs. In the third from Tanzim, one short ball flew over Litton Das’s reach behind the stumps for four byes before Ibrahim sent a length ball through covers. Shakib Al Hasan was brought on in the fifth over and almost struck straightaway, but Towhid Hridoy dropped a catch at short cover to give Ibrahim a life. Only one more four came in the PowerPlay as Bangladesh bowlers continued to be on point with their lengths.
Middle-overs: Gurbaz pushes but Bangladesh continue to restrict AFG
Phase score – 53/1 [RR: 5.89, 4s/6s: 5/1]
In relative terms, the scoring rate improved but only marginally as the ball kept skidding through and made life tough for the batters. Gurbaz and Ibrahim still took their partnership past 50 runs for the fourth time in this World Cup (including two 100-plus stands) but Afghanistan endured a period where they didn’t score a four or a six for 39 deliveries. Gurbaz aimed to end the scoring rut by dancing down against Shakib and hitting a six down the ground. But the dot balls kept piling up in the face of exceptional bowling. Bangladesh’s best bowler in the tournament – Rishad Hossain – provided the first breakthrough when he had Ibrahim caught at long-off from an acrobatic take by Tanzim. Taskin then bowled a maiden over to Gurbaz, before the latter cut loose in the 14th over from Rishad to add 13 runs to the total. Shakib rounded up the middle overs with the end of his exceptional spell of 0 for 19 in 4 overs.
Death overs: Wickets, Rashid and rain
Phase score – 35/4 [RR: 7.00, 4s/6s: 2/3]
Afghanistan lost their way at the start of the death as wickets tumbled. Azmatullah Omarzai looked to cut a Mustafizur delivery and nicked it behind to Litton. Bangladesh had to review the onfield call to send the batter packing. Rishad then made decisive blows as he first lured Gurbaz into a mistimed shot that he tossed up and then saw the back of Gulbadin Naib with the same ploy. Soumya Sarkar took both the catches from deep point, the second one involving a forward sprint and a dive timed to perfection. With that Rishad took his wickets tally for this World Cup to 14, the most by a Bangladesh bowler in a single edition. While he finished with figures of 3 for 26, Mustafizur ended with 1 for 12. Rashid Khan swung his bat around a little at the end to drag his team past the 100-run mark but could only push as far as 115 which included a six off the final delivery. Bangladesh bowled 66 dot balls in all, to keep their side in with a chance for semifinal qualification. The players rushed indoors after the last-ball six as heavy rain interrupted play briefly.
Bangladesh
PowerPlay: Bangladesh start well despite losing three
Phase score – 46/3 [RR: 7.67, 4s/6s: 4/1]
Following the rain break, the ball came onto the bat nicely for the Bangladesh openers and Litton Das took advantage of it in the very first over from Naveen Ul Haq. But Fazalhaq Farooqi got the ball to swing and trapped Tanzid Hasan leg before in the second over. Naveen came back well in his second over, dismissing Najmul Hossain and Shakib Al Hasan off successive deliveries. Najmul fell for change of pace, dragging his big shot to deep square leg while a leading edge off Shakib’s bat went straight back to Naveen on the first ball he faced. Rain came down once again to force the players off the field in the middle of the fourth over. When they returned around 30 minutes later, Litton and Soumya Sarkar looked to continue from where they left off, even as Mohammad Nabi bowled an excellent over worth just three singles.
Middle-overs: Rashid triggers dramatic collapse
Phase score – 48/5 [RR: 5.34, 4s/6s: 6/0]
Rashid Khan knocked back Sarkar’s stumps with a skiddy arm ball to set in motion Bangladesh’s middle-overs collapse. Fazalhaq Farooqi dropped a catch and Afghanistan endured some nervy moments on the field but Rashid was once again on hand to make inroads. In his second over, he got Towhid Hridoy to hole out to deep square leg, leaving Bangladesh at 64 for 5. Rashid bowled his third straight over and took out Mahmudullah next. It took a very good review to send the senior batter back as the on-field umpire didn’t pick up on the faint nick. Rishad Hossain tried to slog sweep the first ball he faced and missed, giving Rashid his fourth wicket. There was another brief rain break that reduced the chase to 19 overs, with 114 (two fewer) to get. Afghanistan’s bowling hero from two nights ago – Gulbadin Naib came on to dismiss Tanzim, leaving Afghanistan two wickets away from a semifinal spot.
Death-overs: Naveen Ul Haq denies Litton to take AFG through
Litton watched a lot of the middle-overs from the other end as the Bangladesh line-up crashed and burned their way to eight down. He still didn’t give up as he brought up a half-century in the 16th over with a sweep shot and remained resolute while Afghanistan hunted for the last two wickets. Taskin Ahmed kept Litton company while the latter slowly but surely ate into the deficit. The equation came down to 9 runs off 9 balls when Naveen cleaned up Taskin. Another spell of passing showers added to the intrigue as Bangladesh were behind as per DLS calculations. Play resumed though, and Mustafizur Rahman had to play out the last ball of the 19th over to allow Litton a chance to chase in the 20th. But that was not to be as Naveen trapped Mustafizur leg before to spark wild celebrations.
Brief Scores:Afghanistan 115/5 in 20 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 43; Rishad Hossain 3-26) beat Bangladesh 105 in 17.5 overs (Litton Das 54*; Rashid Khan 4-23, Naveen Ul Haq 4-26) by 8 runs (DLS Method)
What next?
Bangladesh go back home, as do Australia. Afghanistan head to Trinidad where they face South Africa in the first semifinal.
