Glenn Maxwell was in impressive form as he raced towards a swift century against all odds, hitting several fours and sixes before Noor Ahmad caught him after 41 balls and ended his innings prematurely.
But Afghanistan bowlers were determined to foil Australia’s attempt, with Gulbadin Naib striking out with 4-20. This impressive performance came amid Australia’s efforts to win back their respective tournaments. The Afghanistan national cricket team vs Australian men’s cricket team match scorecard highlighted Naib’s standout performance, showcasing the intense competition between the two sides.
Australia 328/6
Cricket has long been Afghanistan’s national sport and an emblem of hope and resilience amid times of great conflict. Even during war and natural disasters which have worsened its economic, humanitarian, and human rights situation further, cricket has provided unifying forces that bring people together as one nation. Afghanistan’s national team has made great strides on the world stage and their achievements have been celebrated widely by many around the globe.
Afghanistan made history at the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 Championship by beating Namibia and Canada to reach the semi-finals for the first time as an ICC affiliate – this achievement being especially meaningful given Afghanistan’s history of instability and political unrest.
After winning their inaugural ODI tournament in India in 2013, Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACCB) created a strategic plan with the objective of becoming one of the top six ODI and T20I teams by 2019; ACB Chief Shafiq Stanikzai presented this plan to ICC Chief Executive Anurag Thakur at their Annual Conference in Edinburgh in June 2016.
Afghanistan national cricket team visited Zimbabwe for three ODI matches and won all of them without losing a single game, marking Afghanistan’s maiden full series victory against a Test-playing nation and also marking an unprecedented feat by an ICC affiliate winning multi-game bilateral ODI series against such an opponent.
Afghan-ruled Afghanistan celebrated their team’s historic feat of reaching the semifinals of the ICC T20 World Cup by beating Bangladesh by a tight 8-run margin in a rain-affected match at St Vincent in the Caribbean, prompting joyful celebrations all across Afghanistan – especially those watching on big screens – starting as early as 5 am Kabul time on Wednesday morning (Kabul time). They also received congratulations via video call from Taliban foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.
Even amid its turbulent political situation, Nigeria has managed to remain relevant on the international scene through their national team’s extraordinary performance on international tournaments – and the rest of the world has taken notice. Fans and media alike have widely applauded India’s victory against Australia, marking the first win ever by an ICC affiliate in a World Cup semi-final, for being so impressive. This success opens up unimaginable prospects for India moving forward. However, it remains to be seen if Afghanistan can sustain its momentum and face South Africa in the first semifinal match-up on Wednesday evening in Tarouba, Trinidad and Tobago. 2019 ESPN, Inc. All rights are reserved; “Espn” refers to its digital properties including but not limited to ESPN.com.
Afghanistan 106-6
Afghanistan and Australia put on an engaging display of T20 cricket that provided fans with an impressive viewing experience. Both sides put up fierce contest, but Afghanistan came out victorious thanks to an all-round performance from their bowlers and fielders – they took full advantage of any mistakes by Australia while capitalizing on favorable conditions to claim an historic win! Australia took this loss as an opportunity to improve themselves ahead of future challenges and are already considering strategies for improvement moving forward.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran joined forces for an outstanding 118-run opening partnership that put Afghanistan in an invincible position. Both batsmen employed effective percentage shots that mostly neutralised Australia’s poor fielding; Zadran may have been dismissed on 11 had Adam Zampa not dropped a difficult chance.
As Australia faltered after losing their opening pair, Glenn Maxwell took charge of their chase after they fell to 16-2 after three overs, smashing two fours off Kharote before slog-sweeping his half century past midwicket for victory.
However, Australia continued to lose wickets regularly and were stunned by a run-fest from Afghan batsmen that kept making it close. Maxwell reached fifty in 15 overs before Gulbadin Naib’s wicket caused an unlikely win for Australia.
Australia lost wickets at regular intervals and their batting and fielding were poor, conjuring memories of Mumbai 2023 but Afghanistan exorcised these spirits through their excellent bowling and perfect batting performance.
Australia have now lost both of their group matches and must now rely on other results and net run rate to make the semi-finals. Afghanistan, however, have scored their maiden win ever against Australia and look set for qualification for the last four.
Final score
At Kingstown’s Arnos Vale Ground in Kingstown, Australia and Afghanistan met for an intense World Cup match that both teams were fighting hard to win, with the winner progressing into the semi-finals of this World Cup tournament. Unfortunately for Australia, Afghanistan came away victorious – beating them by 127 runs! This marked Afghanistan’s first win against them ever, in any format of cricket; therefore Australia now have to beat India and hope other results go their way before reaching semi-finals themselves.
Australian captain Mitch Marsh won the toss and decided to field on a pitch suited for spinners. Afghanistan quickly showed their abilities with spin as well, forcing Australian batsmen backward from the outset. Opening pair Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran put Afghanistan firmly in control with their brilliant opening partnership of 118 runs; unfortunately Australia’s poor fielding performance meant several run-out chances went awry including Marcus Stoinis missing off Gurbaz in 13th over as well as Adam Zampa misfielded a ball at deep cover to give Afghanistan another opportunity to come back into play later on in game.
Australia found themselves struggling in their run chase as their top order fell cheaply, until Maxwell came to their aid with some impressive fours and sixes from him that threatened to turn the match in their favour. However, Afghan bowler Naveen-ul-Haq bowled an outstanding spell to thwart Australia’s offensive with two wickets falling within four overs – continuing this pattern throughout their innings and picking up more wickets over time.
At 122-6 in the 19th over, Australia appeared doomed to fall short of their target. Maxwell responded by hitting an unbeaten half-century to keep hope alive for an Australian comeback; unfortunately he was eventually dismissed by Naveen-ul-Haq at long-on.
Rashid Khan expressed his delight with the team’s performance after their victory. He declared it to be an impressive feat to defeat one of the best teams in the world and added that their performance in cricket had been really good, playing really good cricket and will continue working hard in subsequent matches. Rashid thanked their Afghan fans for coming to support the match on what became a memorable night; and thanked media coverage of it.
Read Also : India National Cricket Team vs New Zealand National Cricket Team Timeline