NEW DELHI: Praise flowed from all quarters of the cricketing world on Sunday as Afghanistan stunned powerhouse Australia in a T20 World Cup match in Kingstown, St Vincent.
Chasing 149, Australia were restricted to 127 in 19.2 overs with Gulbadin Naib scoring 4/20 and Naveen-ul-Haq 3/20.
T20 World Cup: Schedule | Points TableThe win keeps Afghanistan’s chances of progressing to the semi-finals alive.
Former Indian cricketer Mohammed Kaif congratulated Afghanistan on their stunning win.
“This win will go down in history. Afghanistan have beaten Australia for the first time in their history. It was a close match last time, at the Wankhede (ODI World Cup), but Maxwell (Glenn) dropped a few catches, he scored 200 and Afghanistan lost,” Kaif said in a video on his X account.
Commenting on today’s match, Kaif said, “Great captaincy, a great opening partnership with Zadran (Ibrahim) coming on in place of Zazai (Hazratullah), we didn’t repeat the mistakes we made against India. Zadran and Gurbaz (Rahmanullah) built a 100-run opening stand and scored 148 runs on a difficult pitch with a lot of movement, grip and rotation of the ball.”
Kaif praised Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan and said, “Great captaincy. The first over was given to Naveen-ul-Haq instead of Fazalhaq Farooqui because he knew Naveen would get Travis Head out last time at Wankhede. He did the same, clean bowling Head with a fast, swinging ball. Then Mohammed Nabi got David Warner out.”
Kaif was particularly complimentary of the way coach Gulbuddin Naib dismissed Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis, with Maxwell in particular once again providing some match-defining knocks and the Afghanistan winning the hearts of the crowd.
Australia play a must-win match against India on Monday before Afghanistan takes on Bangladesh.
Chasing 149, Australia were restricted to 127 in 19.2 overs with Gulbadin Naib scoring 4/20 and Naveen-ul-Haq 3/20.
T20 World Cup: Schedule | Points TableThe win keeps Afghanistan’s chances of progressing to the semi-finals alive.
Former Indian cricketer Mohammed Kaif congratulated Afghanistan on their stunning win.
“This win will go down in history. Afghanistan have beaten Australia for the first time in their history. It was a close match last time, at the Wankhede (ODI World Cup), but Maxwell (Glenn) dropped a few catches, he scored 200 and Afghanistan lost,” Kaif said in a video on his X account.
Commenting on today’s match, Kaif said, “Great captaincy, a great opening partnership with Zadran (Ibrahim) coming on in place of Zazai (Hazratullah), we didn’t repeat the mistakes we made against India. Zadran and Gurbaz (Rahmanullah) built a 100-run opening stand and scored 148 runs on a difficult pitch with a lot of movement, grip and rotation of the ball.”
Kaif praised Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan and said, “Great captaincy. The first over was given to Naveen-ul-Haq instead of Fazalhaq Farooqui because he knew Naveen would get Travis Head out last time at Wankhede. He did the same, clean bowling Head with a fast, swinging ball. Then Mohammed Nabi got David Warner out.”
Kaif was particularly complimentary of the way coach Gulbuddin Naib dismissed Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis, with Maxwell in particular once again providing some match-defining knocks and the Afghanistan winning the hearts of the crowd.
Australia play a must-win match against India on Monday before Afghanistan takes on Bangladesh.