Afghanistan’s Historic Victory Against Australia!

Afghanistan’s Historic Victory Against Australia!

Afghanistan had scored 109 runs without losing any wickets by the fifteenth over. Gurbaz had made 52 runs and Zadran had made 49 runs. To score even more runs with a strong finish they were in a good position.

Afghanistan had two close tries in the years 2022 and 2023, but on their third attempt, they finally shined at the Aronos Vale Ground in St. Vincent. They beat the famous Australian team with a fantastic all-round play. Rahmanullah Gurbaz attained sixty runs and Ibrahim Zadran attained fifty-one runs, setting up a with a great start. The star was Gulbadin Naib, who took four wickets for just twenty runs, inclusive of the key wicket of Glen Maxwell. This victory might be Afghanistan’s greatest win in the T20 World Cup History.

When did the game come in favor of Afghanistan?

Afghanistan had 109 runs without losing any wickets, at the fifteenth over point in the game, whereas Australia was struggling with 108 runs and six wickets down. Afghanistan lost some ground towards the end on a difficult pitch but managed to cause a similar collapse for Australia, making them lose seven wickets for fifty-six runs. The Key moment was when Maxwell got out in the fifteenth over after scoring fifty-nine runs from forty-one balls, which completely changed the game.

Afghanistan:

The Initial Overs - 40/0 (RR: 6.67, 4s/6s: 5/2)

Australia chose to bowl first, replacing Mitchell Starc with Ashton Agar. Afghanistan started batting and tried to score runs quickly. Ashton Agar's third ball spun sharply and went past the batter and the wicketkeeper, resulting in four extra runs. The pitch also helped Australia's taller, faster bowlers. After the first 23 balls, Afghanistan had only scored 11 runs. Then, Gurbaz hit a powerful six off Cummins, which relieved the pressure. Gurbaz continued with another six off Hazlewood, while his partner Ibrahim Zadran hit three fours in the next over.

The Middle Overs - 69/0 (RR: 7.67, 4s/6s: 6/1)

In the first four overs after the start of the game, Afghanistan scored exactly twenty-four runs. Their openers played carefully to build a strong foundation. They ran quickly between the wickets and got some help from the mistakes of the Australian team. Markus Stoinis missed catching the ball when he was bowling, which gave Zadran another chance to bat. Matthew Wade failed to take in the chance to baffle Gurbaz, which could have gotten him out. Regardless of these mistakes, Gurbaz hit a six and got another four runs due to a mistake by Agar. Afghanistan had scored 109 runs without losing any wickets by the fifteenth over. Gurbaz had made 52 runs and Zadran had made 49 runs. To score even more runs with a strong finish they were in a good position.

The Final Overs - 39/6 (RR:7.80, 4s/6s: 2/2)

In the cricket match, Gurbaz hit a lot of big shots but got out trying another one. Marcus waved farewell to him, showing how resilient the game was for the 2021 titleholders. Australia took a long time to get their first wicket but then quickly got more. Making two batsmen out, Zampa bowled well. Taking the hold of the three wickets in a row, Cummins also bowled cleverly. Australia missed out on catching two balls, and Hazlewood's last over was expensive, but Afghanistan tried hard to reach 150 runs.

Australia:

The Initial Overs - 33/3 (RR: 5.5, 4s/6s: 4/0)

Instead of the famous Fazalhaq Farooqi, it was Naveen-ul-Haq who started bowling for Afghanistan. This change worked well. Naveen made the ball move a lot in the air and off the ground. With his third throw, he bowled Travis Head out. The ball moved away from Head and hit the stumps. Later, Naveen tricked Mitchell Marsh with a slower ball. Marsh tried to hit it far but only managed to send it high up to a fielder. David Warner was the next to go, trying a sweep but hitting the ball up in the air for a catch. Afghanistan did well to keep their strong opponents from scoring too much in the early part of the game.

The Middle Overs - 75/3 (RR: 8.33, 4s/6s: 5/3)

Maxwell and Stoinis were batting to help Australia recover. They scored 37 runs in the first four overs after a tough start. By the 10th over, Australia had 70 runs but lost three wickets.

Naib, the opposing team's bowler, made an impact by breaking the partnership between Maxwell and Stoinis. Stoinis got out trying to hit a difficult ball. Naib also dismissed Tim David shortly after. Despite this, Maxwell played superbly, hitting two big sixes and reaching 50 runs in just 35 balls.

Rashid, another bowler, couldn't get Maxwell out in his three overs. But Naib eventually got Maxwell out with a cleverly bowled ball, caught by a fielder at backward point. At that stage, Australia needed 42 runs to win from 33 balls.

The final overs- 19/4 (RR: 4.38, 4s/6s: 1/0)

Rashid bowled his last over in the 16th inning. On his first ball, Matthew Wade hit the ball poorly and got out. After that, Cummins tried hard but couldn’t save Australia. He swung his bat and missed, getting out to Naib’s delivery. This sealed Australia’s defeat, and Afghanistan was close to winning their big day in cricket.

Score summary:

Afghanistan's team scored 148 runs in their 20 turns to bat. Rahmanullah Gurbaz made 60 runs, and Ibrahim Zadran scored 51 runs. Pat Cummins from Australia took 3 wickets for 28 runs. Australia, in response, scored 127 runs before they finished their 20 turns. Glenn Maxwell made 59 runs, but Gulbadin Naib of Afghanistan took 4 wickets, giving away only 19 runs. Afghanistan won the match by 21 runs because they scored more runs than Australia did in their turns to bat.