Afghanistan 115 for five (Gurbaz 43, Rishad 3-26) beat Bangladesh 105 (Litton 54*, Rashid 4-23, Naveen 4-26) by eight runs by way of DLS methodology
Each groups, together with Australia, have been in competition for one semi-final spot from Group 1 of Tremendous Eight, and the rain solely added to the drama. For one of the best a part of the final hour, a cat-and-mouse sport ensued. There have been moments when Bangladesh edged Afghanistan out on the DLS par rating, just for the latter to come back again to grab again the benefit by choosing up wickets.
The drama after the second rain interval
Bangladesh needed to chase their authentic goal of 116 down in 12.1 overs to pip each Australia and Afghanistan to the semi-final. Their chase was delayed by half an hour, due to a 20-minute downpour. A shorter sport, due to this fact, was disadvantageous to Bangladesh.
After the second rain break, although, Bangladesh despatched out blended indicators. Litton attacked Naveen however Soumya Sarkar fell in a bid to take action in opposition to Rashid. Towhid Hridoy’s dangers in opposition to Mohammad Nabi, which included a dropped catch, got here off however he, too, holed out off Rashid. However with Litton hitting Rashid for successive fours – first over mid-off after which simply previous slip – Bangladesh regarded on monitor to hunt the goal right down to qualify.
However quickly, Mahmudullah’s indecisiveness and Rishad Hossain’s adventurousness meant they slipped to 80 for 7 after 11 overs. Which is when the wet clouds returned to constantly hover across the stadium, and consistently introduced the DLS par scores into image for the remainder of the night time.
Within the face of accelerating strain, Litton seemingly stored his calm. He has had a forgettable 2024 in T20Is, putting at underneath 100 and his place within the Bangladesh set-up underneath scanner. However he began off with intent and stored up their hopes of signing off from the T20 World Cup with a win. However it was not meant to be.
Naveen’s new-ball burst bursts Bangladesh
Naveen’s first over was costly, with Litton hitting him for a 4 and a six. Then Najmul Hossain Shanto heaved one over midwicket in his second over. However with a deep midwicket in place, Naveen as soon as once more bowled a size ball angling into Shanto, who picked out the fielder there. Naveen then received the subsequent ball to straighten simply sufficient to catch Shakib Al Hasan’s forefront for a return catch and Bangladesh have been 23 for 3.
Afghanistan regular however sluggish
One of many strategies that has labored for Afghanistan, and their openers, on this World Cup is a non-enterprising begin. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran stayed true to kind, taking only a few possibilities contained in the powerplay in addition to within the first ten overs. They completed the powerplay on 27 for 0 and on the ten-over mark have been 58 for 0.
It was Gurbaz and Ibrahim’s fourth fifty partnership, essentially the most by any pair in a T20 World Cup. Within the first ten overs, there have been solely 15 makes an attempt of attacking photographs, that too on a floor that was slowing down and was going to see dew afterward.
Rishad leads Bangladesh squeeze
When Rishad was introduced on within the ninth over, the wind was blowing diagonally from proper to left, within the path of his pure spin. He instantly beat Ibrahim’s exterior edge, and in his second over used the bounce on provide to get the identical batter’s forefront caught at long-off.
Gurbaz then took the assault to Rishad in his third over. He first slapped one over cowl level to finish a part of 38 authorized balls with out a 4, after which used the sweep for an additional 4 by means of backward-square-leg area. Nevertheless, Rishad had the final snigger when he had Gurbaz holing out to deep cowl in his final over. A few balls later, he additionally had Gulbadin Naib miscue a slice in the direction of cowl level. Naib may have gotten away if not for Sarkar, who sprinted in from the deep and dived ahead virtually close to the 30-metre circle. And similar to that, Afghanistan had ceded early benefit to slide from 59 for 0 to 89 for 4.
The Rashid intervention
Rashid walked in at 93 for five with simply 14 balls left. He confronted ten of these, tried attacking photographs on 9 of these, and completed on 19 not out. He struck three sixes, two of these within the final over bowled by Tanzim Hasan Sakib. He used good use of the willow typically, besides on one event when he flung it in the direction of his associate, Karim Janat. It was the final over of the innings and Rashid wished a second run to retain strike however Janat refused it. Nonetheless, he helped Afghanistan rating 22 within the final 14 balls that helped them to a complete they may combat with, simply because the heavens in Kingstown opened up.
Afghanistan confronted 66 dot balls of their innings, which was the third-most by a workforce with 5 or fewer wickets misplaced in males’s T20I the place ball-by-ball information can be found with ESPNcricinfo. However it didn’t come again to hang-out Afghanistan, who stored a clear slate of efficiently defending totals in St Vincent.
S Sudarshanan is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @Sudarshanan7