Afghanistan on Monday edged Bangladesh to reach the Men’s T20 World Cup semi-finals for the first time and followed India into the last four following a combination of results that eliminated 2021 champions Australia.
Captain Rohit Sharma bludgeoned 92 off 41 balls to lead India to a 24-run win over Australia in St Lucia.
Afghanistan advanced to a semi-final against South Africa today when they beat Bangladesh by eight runs with seven balls remaining in a thrilling, rain-affected match at Kingstown, St Vincent, to conclude the Super Eight stage.
Photo: AP
Unbeaten India are to play defending champions England tomorrow.
Sharma posted the tournament’s fastest half-century — off 19 deliveries — and finished with eight sixes and seven fours as India plundered 205-5.
Travis Head kept Australia in the chase with a blistering 76 off 43 balls, but his teammates choked against spinners Kuldeep Yadav (2-24) and Axar Patel (1-21) to be restricted to 181-7.
“It’s quite satisfying, especially when you play like that,” Sharma said. “We don’t want to do anything different [in the semi-finals], we want to play the same way, understand what the individuals need to do in a given situation, and play freely.”
Sharma set the tone when he smashed Mitchell Starc’s second over for 29 runs, including three sixes.
Virat Kohli was out for his second duck of the tournament, caught at midwicket off a Josh Hazlewood short ball. Kohli has just 66 runs in six games, but fellow veteran Sharma was held back only by a five-minute rain delay.
“The 50s and 100s don’t matter, I wanted to bat with the same tempo and carry on,” Sharma said. “You want to make the bowlers think where the next shot is coming, and I think I managed to do that.”
Sharma became the first batter to hit 200 sixes in T20 internationals, and he also passed Kohli (4,103) and Pakistan’s Babar Azam (4,145) as the leading scorer in international cricket’s shortest format.
Sharma had the first century of the tournament in sight before he was undone by Starc’s yorker in the 12th over, but middle-order batters Suryakumar Yadav (31), Shivam Dube (28) and Hardik Pandya (27) ensured India of the joint highest total against Australia in Men’s T20 World Cup history.
Australia lost David Warner in Arshdeep Singh’s (3-37) first over, but Head and captain Mitchell Marsh (37) counterpunched with a brisk 81-run, second-wicket stand.
Patel’s brilliant one-handed catch removed Marsh, then Yadav bowled Glenn Maxwell on 20 in the 14th over.
After Head was deceived by Jasprit Bumrah’s slower ball, Australia’s challenge fizzled out.
Afghanistan batted first and made what seemed an inadequate 115-5 in a match they had to win to reach the semi-finals for the first time.
Then in a dramatic second innings with rain hovering and three nations gripped by the action, Bangladesh fell short in a hectic effort to surpass Afghanistan’s total in 12.1 overs — which would have sent them to the semi-finals.
Afghanistan’s victory was finally sealed when the last Bangladesh wicket fell with the total 105 at 1:10am. Few dared leave the ground as they were gripped until the end by the action and the kaleidoscope of changing fortunes.
Naveen-ul-Haq dismissed Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman with the last two balls of the 18th over to clinch the match and finish with 4-26. Litton Das carried his bat and finished 54 not out for Bangladesh.
“We have worked so hard over the past few years, and we were dreaming and we were waiting for this day,” Naveen said. “When that day comes and it happens, it’s a surreal experience.”
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