*Afghanistan’s victory against Australia in a T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8 encounter wrote cricket history.*
In a Super 8 match on Saturday, the Afghanistan cricket team upset Australia by 21 runs, writing history in the T20 World Cup 2024. Afghanistan scored 148/6 when they batted first and bowled Australia out for just 127 in 19.2 overs. Compared to the Afghanistan squad, which typically relies on the courage of its spinners, this one was quite different. But this time, the game—and the cricket universe—saw a decisive turnabout thanks to the fast bowling unit under the direction of Gulbadin Naib.
Before this match, Afghanistan had played Australia five times in all formats and had lost each time. Afghanistan won an international match against Australia for the first time in the T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8 match. I was closing the gap to 1–5.
When Gulbadin took his third wicket in the 15th over, Glenn Maxwell (59 off 41 balls, six fours, three sixes) opened the door for a result that kept the race for semi-final spots alive heading into Monday’s final two group matches. Maxwell set a target of 149 and kept the Test and One-Day champions on course.
With four balls remaining in the competition, Australia were dismissed for 127, their first-ever loss to the Afghans in a senior international clash. Gulbadin concluded with four for 20 from his four medium-paced overs to alter the tide of the match.
Speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony, Naib began by thanking God and couldn’t stop grinning as he tried to absorb the momentous moment Afghanistan cricket had reached.
“Glory to Allah, my beloved. We’ve been waiting a long time—a historic time for our people and country. I can’t express how grateful I am to the cricket fans who have helped us during our career. The batting innings taught me how to bowl. I appreciate Rashid’s faith in me. For the momentum, it takes a team effort from Rahmanullah, Zadran, and Naveen. Thank God, Australia was defeated in the end. Afghanistan has accomplished a lot in the past ten years, but this is significant. We performed well in the previous World Cup and defeated New Zealand in this one as well,” he remarked.
Since Australia is a champion team, the competition means a lot to us. To have such a team and management is a blessing. We concentrated on each game at the beginning of the competition (Bangladesh is the next team on this field). For us, every game matters. Bangladesh is a strong team; we may take it easy tomorrow and discuss it further,” he said before wishing his followers a bespoke Mubarak in Pashto.
Before this, Afghanistan lost steam following another century-opening partnership between Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran, eventually settling for 148 for six after being put in. Pat Cummins won his second hat-trick in as many games.
After two games, both teams are tied with two points; in the final match, Australia will play Group One leader’s India, while Bangladesh, who has lost both of its Super Eights games, will play Afghanistan.
Afghanistan needs to defeat Bangladesh to advance to the semi-finals. A loss can also suffice if the Afghans have a slim margin of defeat. However, in that case, India would have to defeat Australia handily to give Afghanistan the advantage regarding Net Run Rate.
Bangladesh hasn’t won a single game in the Super 8; therefore, this is a false depiction of them. The net run rate for the Bangla Tigers is -2.489. They hope India defeats Australia by a significant margin and crushes Afghanistan in the upcoming match. Thus, it is an almost unfeasible circumstance.