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AFG vs BAN Super 8s (Source: X)
Afghanistan and Bangladesh are battling it out in the final Super 8 match of the T20 World Cup 2024. After Australia's loss against India, one more semi-final spot is open, with three teams up for grabs. Afghanistan are strong contenders to secure a berth, but the Bangladesh bowlers have managed to give their Asian rivals a tough fight.
Assessing the conditions at the Arnos Vale Ground in Kingstown, St Vincent, Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan opted to bat first. Afghanistan fielded the same team that made history against Australia in their previous match, while Bangladesh made a couple of changes, with Taskin Ahmed and Soumya Sarkar returning to the side.
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The Bangla bowlers did not let the Afghan openers get off to a solid and they managed to keep up the momentum till the end to restrict their opponents to a below-par score of 115/5 in 20 overs. Once again Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran spent more than 10 overs at the crease but managed to score only 58 runs.
Afghanistan lose half the side for 34 runs in a bid to accelerate
Right after entering the second half, Rishad Hossain took the wicket of Zadran (18 off 29) and gave the team a first breakthrough. Gurbaz continued his fine form on a slower track but the strike rate did not hurt Bangladesh much. Mustafizur Rahman and Hussain managed to remove Azmatullah Omarzai (10 off 12) and Gurbaz (43 off 55) in quick succession, and Afghanistan went into deep trouble.
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Veteran all-rounder Mohammad Nabi and Karim Janat also failed to make an impact on the scoreboard. However, Rashid Khan’s late burst (19 off 10 including 3 sixes) pushed their total to beyond 100 and gave them a decent target to defend. Just before the end of the first innings, it started raining at St Vincent and the covers were brought onto the ground.
Rashid Khan and Co. need just a win to qualify for the playoffs. A washout will also give them three points and move them past Australia to march into their first-ever semi-final of an ICC tournament. However, the game is likely to resume in a while as the rain has stopped. Meanwhile, Bangladesh need to chase this target within 12.1 overs to make it to the semis.