Afghanistan pulled off a shocker of epic proportions in the T20 World Cup with a shocking 21-run win over mighty Australia in the T20 World Cup. Gulbadin Naib’s four-wicket haul lifted Pat Cummins’ hat-trick and produced one of the most memorable days in Afghan cricket. Cleverly using slower balls on a delicate batting wicket, Afghanistan defended 148 for six to claim their first win over Australia in international cricket.
Australia was bowled out for 127 in 19.2 overs in the Super Eight and now faces an early exit from the World Cup. Australia now has to win their match against India on Monday and also hopes that Afghanistan loses against Bangladesh in their next match.
Afghanistan openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz (60) and Ibrahim Zadran (51) put on a 118-run partnership to set up a challenging total, but Pat Cummins registered his second consecutive hat-trick in two overs to restrict Afghanistan to a manageable total.
Australia was reduced to 32 in the over, but Glenn Maxwell hit a 41-ball 59 to give some life to the chase. However, Naib’s timely strikes proved decisive in bringing down the 2021 champions. Afghanistan avenged their loss in the ODI World Cup in Mumbai.
Maxwell grabbed a win from the Afghans this time and threatened to deny them on Saturday too, but Naib’s brilliance secured victory. The Afghan players jumped for joy and their support staff came together to celebrate the victory.
The result has opened up Group 1 as both Australia and Afghanistan now have one victory from one match, while India leads the standings with two victories from as many games. Afghanistan defended 149 on a spin-friendly track, with Naveen-ul-Haq taking two early wickets to put Australia on the back foot.
Naveen first cleaned up Travis Head with a fuller delivery for a duck and then failed skipper Mitch Marsh with a slow delivery as he gave way to Nab. Maxwell alleviated the strain with two fours off Azmatullah, but Nabi removed David Warner (3) who tried for a surge only to find Noor Ahmad, resulting in Australia’s lowest Powerplay score of 33 from three in this World Cup.
Maxwell, who tormented Afghanistan during the ODI World Cup last year, continued to find boundaries as he caught spinner Nangeyal Kharote for a four and a six. Naib then struck twice to give Afghanistan hope when he surprised Marcus Stoinis on the rebound Taigna bent it to find Gurbaz. He was next caught by Tim David as Australia slumped to 85 for five in the 13th over.
Maxwell hit sixes off Rashid Khan and Naib in the 12th and 13th overs to keep Australia’s chase on track. Naib came back to pick his prized hat-trick by removing the dangerous Maxwell for 15 runs and Rashid removed Matthew Wade after their chase broke down.
Later, Naib dropped Cummins off the stumps while Naveen claimed his third victim by removing Ashton Agar. Azmatullah ended proceedings by dismissing Josh Hazlewood.
Earlier, Gurbaz and Ibrahim scored their third centuries in the 118-run T20 World Cup. The duo made the most of their opportunity as Australia had to wait until the 16th for their first hit.
Gurbaz hit four maximums and as many fours in his 49-ball knock, while Zadran hit six boundaries in a 48-ball knock. Stoinis removed Gurbaz with a cutter while Adam Zampa cleaned up Azmatullah Omarzai with a slip.
Looking for big hits, Afghanistan lost points after Cummins dismissed Rashid Khan, Karim Janat, and Gulbadin Naib, who became the first player to take two hat-tricks in a T20 World Cup.
