The Afghanistan vs. Australia cricket match is one of the historic matches in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2024. The outstanding all-around performance of the Afghanistan cricket team secures a significant victory over Australia.
This T20 World Cup has seen incredible matches so far, however saying unpredictable would be a better word.
It is said that the format of T20 is unpredictable and this statement stood super honest this time.
In the Afg vs. Aus match, Afghanistan earned one of their biggest wins in cricket history when they defeated Australia for the first time ever in a magnificent match.
The Australian team is one of the most incredible teams in the cricket world. However, with this victory of Afghanistan in the Afg vs. Aus match, Australia’s incredible winning run at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup comes to an end, and both sides are now in close competition to progress to the tournament’s next stage alongside the Indian team.
The Afghanistan team is showing incredible performances so far and this victory is well-deserved for them.
Main performances from the Afghanistan vs. Australia Match
Player of the match: Gulbadin Naib from Afghanistan has been given the title of player of the match for 4/20 in four overs
- Rahmanullah Gurbaz 60 (49)
- Ibrahim Zadran 51 (48)
- Karim Janat 13 (9)
- Pat Cummins 3/28; 4 overs
- Adam Zampa 2/28; 4 overs
- Marcus Stoinis 1/19; 2 overs
- Gulbadin naib for 4/20; 4 overs
- Naveen-ul-Haq 3/20; 4 overs
- Muhammad Nabi 1/1; 1 overs
- Glenn Maxwell 59 (41)
- Mitchell Marsh 12(9)
- Marcus Stoinis 11 (17)
Stadium: Arnos Vale Stadium
The Australian team won the toss and chose to bowl first
Afghanistan team won by 21 runs in Afghanistan vs. Australia match
Overview of the match: Afghanistan vs. Australia
After winning the toss, Australia’s captain, Mitch Marsh, chose to bowl first.
From the Afganistan side, the openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran followed a well-positioned strategy, playing with patience and accuracy during the Powerplay. They were playing well with stability and tried not to lose momentum. The openers set the tone in Afg vs. Aus with their combination of dots and boundaries, going six overs with no wickets and leading their team to 40/0.
Furthermore in the Afghanistan vs. Australia match, Afghanistan was comfortably ahead at 64/0 at the halfway point of their innings, with all ten wickets still intact. The team attacked Australia’s spinners in the middle overs, particularly targeting Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa. Zampa’s 13th over was especially expensive as he gave away two boundaries, closely got out for leg before wicket, and Matthew Wade failed to stump him.
Gurbaz and Zadran both achieved their half-centuries in Afg vs. Aus. Nonetheless, in the sixteenth over, Marcus Stoinis finally dismissed Gurbaz. The middle order from Afghanistan could not stand stable and wickets kept losing.
One of the incredible moments for the Afghanistan vs. Australia match is Pat Cummins’s accomplishment of an almost unbelievable success by claiming his second straight hat-trick, concluding in a spectacular 28/3. Afghanistan scored 148/6 off 20 overs to end their innings.
Furthermore, Afghanistan continued with their bowling innings with the same careful preparation in the Afghanistan vs. Australia match. Early on, Naveen-ul-Haq found success, getting rid of Travis Head with his third delivery and Marsh in his second over. This certainly caused pressure on the Australian team in the beginning. With two boundaries in the fifth over, Glenn Maxwell offered some fight, but Australia was reduced to 33/3 after David Warner was removed from the Afg vs. Aus game at the end of the Powerplay.
Afghanistan bowlers were in attack mode but after a brief stability by Maxwell and Stoinis, Australia reached 70/3 midway through their innings in Afg vs. Aus.
Maxwell’s half-century, which included a huge six in the 13th over, gave some hopefulness, but Gulbadin Naib quickly got rid of the dangerous man with an excellent catch made by Noor Ahmad.
As the match proceeded, Hopes were high for an electrifying conclusion, with Australia needing 41 runs off 29 balls with Cummins at the crease.
Furthermore in Afghanistan vs. Australia, the situation was full of pressure and Australia kept losing wickets. Afghanistan’s fielding was superb; they took wickets at every half-chance. Nonetheless, Australia finished all out for 127 runs, falling 21 runs short of the target.
With the ball, Gulbadin Naib was outstanding. He took four wickets in Afg vs. Aus and made World Cup history by being the first player to do so in both the ODI and T20I formats.
This win certainly is incredible and historic in the Afghanistan vs. Australia match because Afghanistan gave 100 percent and it was their day. Afghanistan has never defeated Australia before; therefore this victory is significant because it shows their growth and potential on the international scene. Afghanistan’s victory maintains them in the running for a semi-final spot and sets up an interesting last Super Eight matchup with Bangladesh. Australia must defeat India in this match to remain in the running.
Captain Rashid Khan voiced his view for Afghanistan vs. Australia match,
“This is a huge victory for our team and our country. It felt amazing to beat Australia in Afg vs. Aus, especially since Australia hosted the 2022 World Cup and the 2023 ODI World Cup. We have to go back to the same XI in terms of the Gurbaz-Ibrahim partnership. It’s also about the opposition; for the India game, we made changes because we wanted to pitch our strongest XI. We went back to our original group stage XI today, and it rewarded off with a fantastic performance. On this particular track, our goal was to reach 140.
We knew that we could struggle on this pitch, and we did in the latter part, even though we didn’t bat well in the end. Nevertheless, we were able to record a respectable total in the Afghanistan vs. Australia match due to their excellent start.”
“We knew we could hold it as long as we maintained our composure. Naib’s performance today in Afg vs. Aus is evidence of the depth of the team. We have choices since we have a lot of all-around. Naib always has the ball ready when you hand it to him. Today in Afg vs. Aus, Gulbadin’s bowling technique and expertise were invaluable. It was a fantastic team effort all around.
It was especially good to witness Nabi get Warner out of the game early. We are quite excited about our victory, and our followers around the globe are as well. Afghans were hoping for this win in Afghanistan vs. Australia, wherever they might be. We are still getting started, and we stand a good chance of advancing to the semifinals.”
Captain Mitchell Marsh stated about the Afg vs. Aus match;
“They overscored by around twenty runs. To be honest, we lost this evening’s cricket match to them because they played such a great game. We did think about not going to bat first. To acquire a feel for the surface, many teams have bowled first in this World Cup. It was just a bad night for us in the field, and we accept responsibility for that.”
“I don’t think we lost at the toss. We will recover in the upcoming match. Though both teams used the same surface in the Afghanistan vs. Australia match, the wicket wasn’t simple. With India coming up, we know exactly what has to happen: we have to win, and there isn’t a better team to accomplish it against. Afghanistan deserves all the praise for their performance tonight, and we’ll move on right away.”
Nonetheless, it is Afghanistan’s outstanding all-around performance, which includes disciplined batting, outstanding fielding, and smart bowling that took them to a successful end in the Afghanistan vs. Australia match. They have improved greatly as a team and their performance speaks volumes.
