T20 World Cup’22, AUS vs AFG:  Australia 168 for 8 (Maxwell 54*, Marsh 45, Naveen-ul-Haq 3-21) beat Afghanistan 164 for 7 (Rashid 48*, Gulbadin 39, Zampa 2-22) by four runs

With an assertive, unbeaten half-century, Glenn Maxwell did his best to keep Australia’s semi-final hopes alive, but Afghanistan’s classy performance at Adelaide Oval, led by Rashid Khan, ended the hosts’ chances of reaching the knockout stages.

Before England’s final group match against Sri Lanka on Saturday, defending champions Australia needed to keep their opponents to 106 runs or less to surpass England’s net run rate. 

After Naveen-ul-Haq and Fazalhaq Farooqi took five wickets each, the hosts were able to restrict their opponents to a total that appeared competitive for the match but not enough to ensure their progression. Maxwell’s knock helped the hosts reach 168 for 8 in their 20 overs.

New Zealand has secured a place in the semi-finals (Australia needed to beat Afghanistan by 185 runs to beat their NRR), and the Black Caps’ 89-run victory in their first match proved to be so costly to Australia’s attempt to defend its title.Now, Australia will be eliminated unless Sri Lanka upsets England; England will join New Zealand in the next phase if they win.

Gulbadin Naib and Ibrahim Zadran shared a 59-run stand for the third wicket, chasing 169, but Australia regained control with a flurry of four wickets in nine balls, two of which fell to Adam Zampa in his final over. Australia prevailed by four runs despite Rashid’s unbeaten 48 off 23 balls at stumps thrilling his own supporters at the venue he referred to as his “second home.” Despite the apprehension of the home crowd, Australia prevailed.

HIGHLIGHTS

Controversial call

Given what was at stake for Australia in this match, there was a lot of talk about it, and when Mitchell Starc was left out of their line up, the talk got even louder. After failing to fully recover from hamstring injuries, Aaron Finch and Tim David were replaced by Cameron Green and Steve Smith, a move that sparked less controversy. However, the decision by Starc to make way for Kane Richardson baffled both viewers and commentators. Starc had been primarily used in the middle overs of this tournament, but it was thought that he might have missed an opportunity here because of his damaging yorker and demonstrated ability to smash opposing sides.

As it turned out, Richardson struck with his third ball of the tournament, bowling Rahmanullah Gurbaz out for a brisk 30 off 17 deliveries. Gurbaz had made an exciting start by hitting the sixth ball of Afghanistan’s innings into deep square leg off Josh Hazlewood. He survived a sharp run-out chance when Pat Cummins side-footed the ball onto the stumps, apparently hurting his shoulder as the two collided accidentally.Gurbaz made a valuable contribution and was declared fit to bat.

Maxwell, Marsh play their part

After Cameron Green was run out for three in the third over, Mitchell Marsh hit Farooqi to Gulbadin at slip and took over. By this time, David Warner had consumed four fours and was running for everything. But it was ineffective. Before Marsh was killed at point by Najibullah Zadran off Gulbadin with 19 men to his name, he had seen Warner and Smith leave in the same Naveen. After reaching 45 off 30, Marsh slog-swept Mujeeb Ur Rahman over the square leg boundary and sent Gulbadin’s leg-cutter directly into the stands. However, he top-edged Mujeeb and fell directly above his head, allowing Gurbaz to secure the catch behind the stumps.

Hence Maxwell’s superb innings, in which he powered to 54 runs not out in 32 deliveries.To keep Australia’s pace and momentum going, he hit some impressive shots through the covers and twice cleared the fence over midwicket.

Afghanistan tease heartbreaker

The three wickets that Naveen took were crucial in putting an end to an Australian team that needed as many runs as possible to help their troubled title hopes. Then, Afghanistan was within touching distance of the magical 106-run total, which would have greatly improved Australia’s NRR comparison with England, thanks to Gurbaz’s strong start and Gulbadin’s determined innings before he was run out by an excellent Maxwell throw from midwicket. 

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Afghanistan still missed the mark when they went from 98 for 2 to 99 for 5 and 103 for 6.

Then came Rashid, a Big Bash star for the Adelaide Strikers, who scored his best T20I score ever. He then hit four sixes, including back-to-back maximums off Richardson over deep midwicket and long-off, one off Marcus Stoinis beyond deep square leg, and one off Richardson over deep midwicket and long-off, both of which went into the stands. These two sixes required his team to score 12 off the final two balls of the match. He scored two through the gap between long-on and long-off, followed by a four, which missed Afghanistan’s goal but still excited the crowd.