NEWS
Follow UsAfghanistan skipper Rashid Khan couldn’t hide his excitement after confirming a place in the Super 8s of the 2024 T20 World Cup. Afghanistan defeated Papua New Guinea by seven wickets on June 13 (Thursday) and made it through to the next round of a major ICC event for the first time in their cricket history.
“Feeling great to qualify for the next round. Great effort from the boys since game one. They know what they to do and have executed beautifully, making things easy for me,” said Rashid in the post-match presentation ceremony.
Fazalhaq Farooqi was once again among wickets, taking 3/16 in his four overs. PNG were bundled out for just 95 but Afghanistan lost their in-form openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran with just 22 runs on the board. Gulbadin Naib, however, remained unbeaten on 49 and was well supported by Azmatullah Omarzai (13) and Mohammad Nabi (16).
“It is important to have someone like Gurbaz who goes out and takes on the bowling or Farooqi who picks up wickets in the powerplay. If the batter is attacking then as a bowler you have to attack too especially with the pitches helping you. They (the openers) have given us good starts in the last two games and today was a good opportunity for the others to spend some time in the middle,” added Rashid.
The left-arm seamer is now the leading wicket-taker in the competition, having claimed 12 wickets across three innings at an average of 3.5 and an economy rate of 3.7. “I was in the IPL, unfortunately I didn't get a game, so I came here and gave myself the strength to come and perform. I have two plans while bowling - just get wickets if there's any swing or seam, if there's no movement, I just bowl in the right areas and keep it simple,” said Farooqi.
Meanwhile, PNG had four run-outs in the first innings and skipper Assad Vala said the batting has been challenging in these conditions and Afghanistan’s bowling attack proved to be too good for them. “They are a really good bowling unit but gifting them four run outs was not acceptable. It has been challenging not just for us but for every team (batting on these pitches).
“We spoke about giving ourselves time and then launching later, something we learned from yesterday's game but they bowled really well. We have not put enough runs on the board for them to defend. The bowling department has been really good. We created some opportunities but could not hold on to those chances. We don't face this type of bowlers at the associate level and it is a challenge.”
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