RECAP
Follow UsGurbaz-Zadran, yet again, for Afghanistan’s rescue
A lot of Afghanistan’s batting depends on their openers, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran. The duo provided yet another solid platform with their fourth 50+ run partnership in the tournament, putting on 59 runs in the first 11 overs.
It kept Bangladesh’s pace bowlers Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Taskin Ahmed completely at bay.
Rishad Hossain pulls things back for Bangladesh
Just when it felt like Afghanistan were going to press their foot on the pedal, Rishad Hossain entered. The leg spinner rode on his stellar World Cup form to remove Zadran quite immediately.
Using the longer boundary to his advantage, Hossain removed the dangerous-looking Gurbaz (43) and the muscle-man Gulbadin Naib (4) to pull things back effortlessly for the Tigers at 88/3 in 16.1 overs.
Rashid’s all-round show for Afghanistan
But that’s when Rashid Khan put on a show with the bat, taking on Taskin first with a six in the 18th over before smashing Tanzim for two sixes in the final over of the innings. His 10-ball 19 took Afghanistan to 115/5.
He wasn’t done yet, taking things into his own hands with the ball. The leg-spinner removed Soumya Sarkar before accounting for the dangerous Towhid Hridoy. But Rashid left the best to the last when he removed Mahmadullah and Rishad Hossain to finish with figures of 4/23.
Litton Das’ holds fort while Bangladesh crumble
Chasing 114, Bangladesh were always under pressure, given that they had to chase it down in 12.1 overs to advance to the next stage. However, in an attempt to chase the total in double-quick time, Bangladesh forgot basics, as wickets continued to tumble down the other end.
But throughout this chaos, there was one batter who stood tall: Litton Das. Das became the second opener in T20 World Cup history to carry the bat, with a 49-ball 54, putting them within touching distance before…
Naveen-ul-Haq had the last laugh
Naveen-ul-Haq already created pressure with the new ball when he removed both Najmul Hossain Shanto and Shakib Al Hasan, but he was under tremendous pressure in the 19th over, with Afghanistan defending 12 runs.
That’s when he brought out his ‘A’ game, with execution of the highest order against Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman. First, Naveen bowled a gripping cutter to tempt Taskin into a big hit before rapping Mustafizur right in front of the stumps, finishing with figures of 4/26.
It led to Afghanistan making their first-ever semi-final appearance in an ICC event across formats.
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