Pat Cummins’ joy of claiming consecutive hat-tricks was short-lived as Afghanistan pulled off one of the biggest upsets in T20 World Cup history, defeating Australia by 21 runs in their Super 8 tie on Sunday. Chasing 149 to win, Australia struggled despite Glenn Maxwell’s valiant 59 off 41 balls. Gulbadin Naib’s impressive 4/20 and Naveen-ul-Haq’s 3/20 bowled them out for 127. This victory came almost eight months after Afghanistan nearly defeated Australia at the ODI World Cup last November, making their triumph in Kingstown even more momentous.
Unreal scenes unfolded as Afghanistan celebrated their victory over Australia at the T20 World Cup (AP).
Afghanistan’s win almost secures India’s spot in the semi-finals and puts Australia in a must-win situation against the 2007 Champions on Monday. If India beats Australia and Afghanistan defeats Bangladesh, both teams in blue advance to the knockouts. If Australia wins against India and Bangladesh manages to defeat Afghanistan, the net run rate will become crucial. Currently, India leads the group with 4 points, followed by Australia in second place, and Afghanistan in third.
This victory marks Afghanistan’s first win over Australia in any format, with Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran setting the stage with fine half-centuries. Cummins joined Wasim Akram as only the second bowler to claim back-to-back hat-tricks in international cricket. However, Australia’s batting struggles were evident as only three of their batters reached double-digit scores. After being reduced to 32/2 and then 71/4, Afghanistan sensed a historic opportunity, with only Glenn Maxwell standing in their way.
Maxwell looked set to repeat his heroics. He removed his helmet and raced to a quickfire half-century, but this time, the finishing touch was missing. Maxwell slashed at Gulbadin Naib, only to be caught at point by Noor Ahmed. With each passing over, Afghanistan grew closer to making history. Gulbadin, Rashid Khan, and Naveen-ul-Haq dismantled the Australian batting line-up, culminating in euphoric celebrations when Adam Zampa was caught by Mohammad Nabi at long-on.
Australia’s chase struggled from the start. Naveen-ul-Haq cleaned up Travis Head for a three-ball duck, and David Warner top-edged a delivery from Nabi to get out. Gulbadin then deceived the dangerous Marcus Stoinis with a short ball. As long as Maxwell was at the crease, memories of Mumbai on November 9th came flooding back as he hit six fours and three sixes at a blistering pace.
Afghanistan’s fielding brilliance shone through, even as Karim Jannat’s misfield gifted Maxwell and Australia a boundary, causing the asking rate to threaten 10 an over. But just when lightning seemed poised to strike twice, Gulbadin removed Maxwell and Tim David in two overs, swinging the game decisively in Afghanistan’s favor.
Afghanistan’s cricket continues to improve with this victory. Recently, they defeated three World Champions at the ODI World Cup, including wins over England, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. A few days ago, Afghanistan extended their giant-killing spree by demolishing New Zealand by 74 runs.
