Afghanistan Upset Australia
Afghanistan sent shockwaves through the cricket world with their stunning victory against Australia. Here’s how they accomplished it:
Rashid Khan & Co demonstrated no mercy against an impressive Australian side in this matchup, making their opponent pay dearly in terms of playability and spectacle. Here are a few key highlights from this great contest…
Afghanistan Upset Australia | 1. Pat Cummins’ hat-trick
Australia’s Pat Cummins became the first bowler in World Twenty 20 history to complete two hat-tricks when their loss against Afghanistan by 21 runs at Kingstown’s Arnos Vale Ground was decided on Sunday afternoon. Cummins managed to dismiss Rashid Khan, Karim Janat and Gulbadin Naib in consecutive deliveries before dropping an opportunity at deep midwicket by David Warner, potentially giving Cummins another wicket. Afghanistan Upset Australia
Asked to bat first, Afghanistan got off to an impressive start when Rahmanullah Gurbaz (60) and Ibrahim Zadran (51) shared an unbeaten 118-run partnership; but their efforts would soon fall prey to Australia’s relentless attack. Afghanistan Upset Australia
Cummins secured his first wicket of the innings with the last delivery of his 18th over when he inflicted an inside edge from Mahmudullah’s bat that holed out to Adam Zampa at short fine leg. He repeated this trick again in the 20th over when he bowled a slower delivery from around the stumps that caught Towhid Hridoy napping before inducing Karim Janat to skied it to long-on for miscue. Cummins then completed his hattrick with his final over, trapping Naib with an lbw delivery that trapped Naib in an early delivery from around around his bowling position lbw. Afghanistan Upset Australia
Afghanistan Upset Australia | 2. Glenn Maxwell’s double century
Australia looked in trouble after losing two wickets within their first over, but Glenn Maxwell produced an amazing innings that will go down in history as one of T20 cricket’s finest performances ever seen in T20 cricket. Afghanistan Upset Australia
Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran put up an opening stand against Australia that equalled its second highest in this competition, but Aussie bowlers came storming back. Pat Cummins notched his second hat-trick just days after his first, nearly making it another when David Warner drove straight down Nangeyalia Kharote and into Matthew Wade’s hands at slip. Afghanistan Upset Australia
Gulbadin Naib made early inroads against Australia, taking Travis Head’s wicket for an off-ball duck on just his second delivery and trapping Mitchell Marsh leg before with a delivery that mislead him – only for Australian captain Tim David to survive another lbw review to put Tim David (2 off 3) and Maxwell in control with seven overs left to bat before Maxwell finally fell after swinging at an wide delivery, only for it to be superbly caught by Noor Ahmad at backward point by Noor Ahmad. Afghanistan Upset Australia
Afghanistan Upset Australia | 3. Gulbadin Naib’s 4/20
Gulbadin Naib may not get the credit he deserves among cricket fans, but on this night at Arnos Vale Ground in Saint Vincent he proved Afghanistan’s star performer with an outstanding 21-run win against World Cup royalty as 2021 Champions Sri Lanka went out in Super Eight Stage. Naib’s bowling proved pivotal as Afghanistan shocked World Cup royalty to achieve an early exit.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran’s opening stand of 118 runs set Afghanistan up nicely; though Glenn Maxwell made 41-ball 59 it wasn’t enough to keep pace with Afghanistan’s required run rate.
Naib took charge in this crucial moment and used his right-arm seamer to strike an outstanding blow against Australia’s lower order, dismissing Marcus Stoinis and Tim David in quick succession before castled Pat Cummins with a slower delivery to bring home victory to Afghanistan – one of their largest victories to date! For his superb effort he was honored as Player of the Match; leaving many cricket fans impressed with this extraordinary effort from Afghanistan’s veteran spinner.
Afghanistan Upset Australia | 4. Ashton Agar’s wicket
Glenn Maxwell’s brilliant double century helped Australia wrest victory from Afghanistan at last year’s ODI World Cup, but Afghanistan bowlers proved too powerful once more with disciplined bowling and exceptional fielding to allow Australia a comfortable victory at Kingstown. A stand-out moment came in the 18th over when Matthew Wade miscued a sweep shot off Rashid Khan to Karim Janat, who took an unforgettable catch!
Gulbadin Naib struck to turn the tide back against Australia with two wickets from two balls by Mitchell Marsh (two) and three wickets from David Warner (3) in just over six overs, then Mohammad Nabi caught Travis Head out (0) with another new ball to leave them struggling at 32-3 after six overs. Afghanistan Upset Australia
Agar tried to restore order for Australia with an aggressive stroke at Gulbadin’s full delivery, which was caught low for his fourth wicket. But then in the final over, Nabi bowled a clever slower ball which trapped Agar leg before wicket and sent them all out for just 127. Australia were all out in 21 overs – an embarrassing loss that puts their semi-final hopes into jeopardy. Afghanistan Upset Australia
Afghanistan Upset Australia | 5. Naveen ul Haq’s 3 wickets
Afghanistan were set a task of chasing down 148 at Kingstown’s Arnos Vale Ground after Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran shared an opening stand of 118 runs between them at Arnos Vale Ground, with all-rounder Gulbadin Naib picking four wickets for 20 runs in four overs; pacer Naveen Ul Haq also contributed three wickets, including Glenn Maxwell for 59 off 51 balls off his four overs.
Gulbadin Naib played his all-rounder talents alongside bowlers Naveen Ul Haq with three wickets off four overs; all-rounder Gulbadin Naib was outstanding with four wickets from four overs while Pacer Naveen ul Haq also contributed three wickets from four overs which produced 20 runs from four overs, giving Afghanistan victory on Kingstown Arnos Vale Ground in Kingstown.
Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis had briefly lifted Australia to 70/3 at midpoint before Naveen Ul Haq struck twice in 13th over with pull shots by Tim David that couldn’t go beyond deep midwicket for an easy catch by Noor Ahmad at point – both pulled shots skying away off Australia captain Ricky Ponting into deep midwicket before Tim David was superbly caught behind point by Noor Ahmad behind point for Tim David to catch in one go by Noor Ahmad behind point for Tim David to catch by Noor Ahmad before being dismissed with four balls remaining by Afghanistan – their first ever T20 International victory that left Australia reeling and stunned
