With 168 runs for the loss of 8 wickets, Australia defeated Afghanistan, who made 164 runs for the loss of 7 wickets.
Glen Maxwell made all the efforts to ensure that the team did not give up on reaching the semi-finals. This is highly unlikely after Afghansitan has scared them with their mighty performance. Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen-ul-haq managed to take 5 wickets between them and restricted their opponents.
Gulbadin Naib shared a stand of 59 runs with Ibrahim Zadran when chasing 169.Australia got control of the match. Rashid scared the home-fans but kept his supporters thrilled at the ground. This is known as his ‘second’ home. He plundered 48 unbeaten from 23 balls at death. Australia managed to ‘hold on’ and ensured they won the match by 4 runs.
The Controversial Call
Australia replaced Tim David and Aaron Finch by Steve smith and Cameron Green. The spectators and the commentators were confounded when Starc made way for Kane Richardson. Starc was used in the middle over’s , but hs ability to blast out were observed as an opportunity missed.
Richardson, with his 3rd ball of the tournament, removed Rahmunullah Gurbaz for 30 runs off 17 balls. Gurbaz had managed an ‘eventful’ start by hitting the 6th ball of the ‘Afghanistan’ innings and was saved from a run-out.
Marsh, Maxwell plays their role
Mitchell Marsh was at the crease in the 3rd over after Cameron Green fell for only 3 after slashingFarooqi. David Warner was content with the 4 fours and made sure he ran for everything. This, unfortunately, did not work. Marsh saw Smith and Warner depart in the same over before he was ‘put down’off Gulbadin with a mere 19 runs to his account. Marsh managed to reach 45 runs off 30 balls. He slog swept Mujeeb Ur Rehman over the ‘square leg’ boundary and sent the leg-cutter of Gulbadin into the stands. But unfortunately this landed as a catch.
Cue Maxwell, on the other hand, managed a 54 not out from only 32 balls. Some of his shots can be termed as impressive. These kept the tempo up for Australia.
Afghansitan tease heartbreaker
The 3 wickets of Naveen were pivotal for the lid on Australia.Then the determined innings of Gulbadin and the bright start of Gurbaz made a difference. Gulbadin was run-out by Maxwell’s throw from midwicket. Afghnistan was well within the touching distance. This team was 99 runs for 5, and then 103 for the loss of 6 wickets, but was still lagging behind.
After which walked in Rashid, he went for 4 sixes, including maximums back-to-back off Richardson into the stands. He also smashed Marcus Stoinis beyond the ‘deep square leg’ and this left his side needing a ‘big’ 12 runs from the last 2 balls. He managed 2 into the gap that was between ‘long-on’ and ‘long-off’. This was followed by a 4. This left Afghanistan short of the target but gave the crowd the much expected excitement.
