Afghanistan cricketer Najibullah Zadran took a dig at Australia ODI and Test skipper Pat Cummins after his side knocked the 2021 champions out of the T20 World Cup. In a must-win game, Afghanistan beat Bangladesh by eight runs via DLS method in Kingstown on Tuesday to book their place in the semi-finals – their first in any ICC event.
Afghanistan finished in the second spot behind toppers India in Group 1 of the Super Eight stage with two wins in three matches. Their historic victory against Australia last week turned out to be the deciding factor in this group.
After getting the better of Bangladesh in a nail-biting contest that ebbed and flowed, Zadran, who was replaced in the Afghanistan XI for this match by Karim Janat, trolled Pat Cummins. “Q : How is the top 4 semi finalist? A : definitely Australia other 3 you choose ✈️✈️✈️ 🤫🤐 @ACBofficials @patcummins30 @CricketAus,” the left-hander wrote on X, tagging Cummins, Cricket Australia and the Afghanistan Cricket Board.
Zadran’s post was in response to Cummins’ comments before the World Cup. In an interview before the tournament began, the fast bowler had said that Australia would definitely make the semi-finals of this year’s T20 World Cup. He had also added that he “didn’t care” who the other teams would be.
“Definitely Australia, and then you can choose whichever you want to,” Cummins had said when asked to name the top four teams of T20 World Cup 2024. When he was pushed to name his other three picks, Cummins said: “Don’t care. You can pick.”
Afghanistan create history by entering T20 World Cup semi-finals
After losing to Afghanistan and India in the Super Eight stage, Australia’s only chance of making it to the semi-finals was a Bangladesh win over Afghanistan by a small margin. While this seemed a possibility for most of the match, Afghanistan turned the tables in the dying stages to script a historic win.
Opting to bat after winning the toss, Afghanistan’s batting stumbled to a below-par 115/5 as Bangladesh bowlers made the most of a tricky pitch, bowling as many as 66 dot balls.
Leg-Spinner Rishad Hossain, 3/26, led the charge while for Afghanistan, opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz hit a painstaking 43 off 55 balls.
The match was eventually truncated to 19-overs-a-side due to frequent rain interruptions and Bangladesh was given a revised target on 114.
Afghanistan then showed just why and how they have managed to come this far in international cricket since becoming a full ICC member only in 2017, producing a gritty bowling performance, spearheaded by Rashid (4/23) and pacer Naveen-ul-Haq (4/26).
Their heroics ensured a successful and historic defence of the low score as Bangladesh were bowled out for 105 in 17.5 overs.
The Afghans will now face South Africa in the last-four stage on June 27.