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Afghanistan storm into maiden World Cup semi-finals; Australia knocked out
Jonathan Trott first kicked a bag in the dressing room. He then signaled to Afghanistan to slow the game down when rain was around. Rashid Khan had his hands on his head at various moments in the chase. Mohammad Nabi had a constant smile on his face. Dwayne Bravo wasn’t able to watch it.
But the one moment that encapsulated the emotionally-charged night in Kingstown was Naveen ul Haq taking off after taking the final Bangladesh wicket. That sealed Afghanistan’s maiden spot in the semi-final of any men’s senior World Cup.
In a match that had a start-stop nature owing to multiple rain interventions, Afghanistan – led by four-fors from Naveen and Rashid – edged out Bangladesh by a mere eight runs, and in the process, also knocked Australia out of the T20 World Cup 2024.
Both teams, along with Australia, were in contention for one semi-final spot from Group 1 of Super Eight, and the rain only added to the drama. For the best part of the last hour, a cat-and-mouse game ensued. There were moments when Bangladesh edged Afghanistan out on the DLS par score, only for the latter to come back to snatch back the advantage by picking up wickets.
Litton Das with a best of 36 before Monday in the tournament, stayed through it all, but couldn’t take Bangladesh over the line. Rashid and Co. danced their hearts out after knocking two teams with a single blow and the celebrations are only likely to go on for longer.
Bangladesh had to chase their original target of 116 down in 12.1 overs to pip both Australia and Afghanistan to the semi-final. Their chase was delayed by half an hour, thanks to a 20-minute downpour. A shorter game, therefore, was disadvantageous to Bangladesh.
After the second rain break, though, Bangladesh sent out mixed signals. Litton attacked Naveen but Soumya Sarkar fell in a bid to do so against Rashid. Towhid Hridoy’s risks against Mohammad Nabi, which included a dropped catch, came off but he, too, holed out off Rashid. But with Litton hitting Rashid for successive fours – first over mid-off and then just past slip – Bangladesh looked on track to hunt the target down to qualify.
But soon, Mahmudullah’s indecisiveness and Rishad Hossain’s adventurousness meant they slipped to 80 for 7 after 11 overs. Which is when the rainy clouds returned to continuously hover around the stadium, and constantly brought the DLS par scores into picture for the rest of the night.
In the face of increasing pressure, Litton seemingly kept his calm. He has had a forgettable 2024 in T20Is, striking at under 100 and his place in the Bangladesh set-up under scanner. But he started off with intent and kept up their hopes of signing off from the T20 World Cup with a win. But it was not meant to be.
Fazalhaq Farooqi, Afghanistan’s weapon with the new ball, trapped Tanzid Hasan lbw with his third ball, making it his 16th wicket, which drew him equal with Wanindu Hasaranga for most wickets in a men’s T20 World Cup.
Naveen’s first over was expensive, with Litton hitting him for a four and a six. Then Najmul Hossain Shanto heaved one over midwicket in his second over. But with a deep midwicket in place, Naveen once again bowled a length ball angling into Shanto, who picked out the fielder there. Naveen then got the next ball to straighten just enough to catch Shakib Al Hasan’s leading edge for a return catch and Bangladesh were 23 for 3.
One of the methods that has worked for Afghanistan, and their openers, in this World Cup is a non-enterprising start. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran stayed true to form, taking very few chances inside the powerplay as well as in the first ten overs. They finished the powerplay on 27 for 0 and at the ten-over mark were 58 for 0.
It was Gurbaz and Ibrahim’s fourth fifty partnership, the most by any pair in a T20 World Cup. In the first ten overs, there were only 15 attempts of attacking shots, that too on a surface that was slowing down and was going to see dew later on.
When Rishad was brought on in the ninth over, the wind was blowing diagonally from right to left, in the direction of his natural spin. He immediately beat Ibrahim’s outside edge, and in his second over used the bounce on offer to get the same batter’s leading edge caught at long-off.
Gurbaz then took the attack to Rishad in his third over. He first slapped one over cover point to end a phase of 38 legal balls without a four, and then used the sweep for another four through backward-square-leg region. However, Rishad had the last laugh when he had Gurbaz holing out to deep cover in his last over. A couple of balls later, he also had Gulbadin Naib miscue a slice towards cover point. Naib could have gotten away if not for Sarkar, who sprinted in from the deep and dived forward almost near the 30-metre circle. And just like that, Afghanistan had ceded early advantage to slip from 59 for 0 to 89 for 4.
Rashid walked in at 93 for 5 with just 14 balls left. He faced ten of those, attempted attacking shots on nine of those, and finished on 19 not out. He struck three sixes, two of those in the last over bowled by Tanzim Hasan Sakib. He used good use of the willow generally, except on one occasion when he flung it towards his partner, Karim Janat. It was the last over of the innings and Rashid wanted a second run to retain strike but Janat refused it. Still, he helped Afghanistan score 22 in the last 14 balls that helped them to a total they could fight with, just as the heavens in Kingstown opened up.
Afghanistan faced 66 dot balls in their innings, which was the third-most by a team with five or fewer wickets lost in men’s T20I where ball-by-ball records are available with ESPNcricinfo. But it did not come back to haunt Afghanistan, who kept a clean slate of successfully defending totals in St Vincent.
Brief scores:
Afghanistan 115 for 5 in 20 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 43; Taskin Ahmed 1-12, Mustafizur Rahman 1-17, Rishad Hossain 3-26) beat Bangladesh 105 in 17.5 overs (Litton Das 54*; Rashid Khan 4-23, Naveen ul Haq 4-26, Fazalhaq Farooki 1-15, Gulbadin Naib 1-05) by eight runs via DLS method
[Cricinfo]
Amir Jangoo amassed 233, RostonChase hit 194, and through a record-breaking 401-run partnership, the pair slow-roasted Sri Lanka on day three in Antigua. Their gargantuan stand delivered West Indies to a position of extraordinary strength, securing them a 318-run first innings lead. That in the four overs they got to bowl at Sri Lanka, West Indies dismissed the dangerous Pathum Nissanka, and created other chances, buoying them further heading into day four.
Jangoo and Chase now not only have the highest sixth wicket stand in the history of Test cricket, they also have the second highest partnership for West Indies, behind only Garfield Sobers and Conrad Hunte. Both batters improved on their previous first-class high scores, Chase easily beating his 137 not out, and Jangoo surpassing his domestic 218.
That Jangoo produced a knock of such astonishing concentration, and expansive range, in just his third Test innings was especially impressive. Until he got out attempting to accelerate about midway through the last session, his innings was largely chanceless. He batted 373 deliveries on his own, and he and Chase batted 100.2 overs, seeing out three complete sessions together. Though they had begun slowly, both batters sped up through the day and were finding boundaries off both the quicks and spinners through the second and third sessions of the day.
Sri Lanka’s attack found the pitch utterly docile for most of day three. They were missing their fastest quick Lahiru Kumara, who went off the field with a hamstring niggle early the previous day. Their quicks were earnest in the first hour, but once Jangoo and Chase saw out the second new ball (the ball was four overs old when day three began) with a period of disciplined batting, Sri Lanka’s quicks lost some venom, and captain Dhananjaya de Silva went increasingly to his spinners – Sonal Dinusha in particular.
The one exception for Sri Lanka was Milan Rathnayaka, who was intense in each of his day three spells, and created chances even in a dreary second session, having Chase dropped by a diving wide slip for 108. Later in the day, it would be Rathnayaka who would break the enormous stand, and would go on to complete a well-deserved five-wicket haul, finishing with 5 for 124. Dinusha, the left-arm spinning allrounder, conceded 234 runs himself in this innings, though he did also pick up two wickets, including that of Chase.
Patience had defined Jangoo and Chase’s batting in the first hour. Jangoo, for example, didn’t score off the first 15 deliveries he faced on day three, while Chase was only marginally less defensive. When conditions began to ease after the first hour, however, they began to slip into more fluent modes of operation. In the afternoon session, when the pair really propelled West Indies into the ascendancy, they plundered 136 runs at a rate of more than five an over. Jangoo was especially strong square of the wicket on the offside and down the ground. Chase was excellent through the covers. Jangoo, additionally, would sometimes tonk the spinners over the straight boundary.
Right through the day the pair would notch up milestones – both for themselves, and the partnership. The milestone that drew the most raucous celebration came soon after tea, when Jangoo completed his double with a sweep through square leg, leaping in the air as he took off for the run. Although only hundreds were in attendance, the house was on its feet for him, coach Daren Sammy and the West Indies dressing room giving him an especially warm ovation. Having come into the XI only as a replacement player for the injured Shai Hope, Jangoo has essentially made himself undroppable for the second Test.
After tea the pair took the scoring up even one further gear, Jangoo hitting some memorable sixes over square leg, while Chase continued to drive powerfully. Jangoo was out attempting to repeat a pulled six though the ball was not quite short enough for that shot. The resultant top-edge was gobbled up by the wicketkeeper. Chase was out much later, under-edging Dinusha into his stumps when a sweep went awry. He was six short of what would also have been his first double century.
Rathnayake would take two further wickets before West Indies declared the innings. Nissanka was out caught behind feeling for a Jayden Seales away-swinger first ball of the second over. Nightwatcher Kasun Rajitha could have been out too, had Jangoo at short leg held a sharp, low chance off the bowling of Kemar Roach.
Scores:
Scores: Day 3 Stumps
Sri Lanka 308 and 15 for 1 (Kasun Rajitha 4*, Nishan Madushka 2*; Jayden Seales 1-5) trail West Indies 626 for 9 dec (Amir Jangoo 233, Roston Chase 194; Milan Rathnayaka 5-124) by 303 runs
[Cricinfo]
For a second day in a row, the United States has launched strikes against Iran, once again citing an attack against a commercial vessel as a motivation.
Saturday’s renewed attacks are the latest indication that a regional Middle East ceasefire, established as part of a June 17 memorandum of understanding (MOU), might be at a breaking poInt.
In a statement, the US Central Command (CENTCOM), which directs military action in the Middle East, explained that the latest attacks came “at the Commander in Chief’s direction”.
“CENTCOM forces launched strikes today in direct response to continued Iranian aggression against commercial shipping,” it wrote.
“U.S. military aircraft targeted Iranian military surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities, and minelayer capabilities.”
[Aljazeera]
India suffered a potential injury scare ahead of the Test series in Sri Lanka, with their No.3 B Sai Sudarshan retiring hurt on 7 while playing for India A against Sri Lanka A during the third day of the first four-dayer in Galle. After scoring a century in the first innings, Sai Sudharsan retired hurt in the fourth over of India A’s second innings. By the end of the day’s play, however, India A had stretched their lead to 170.
Chhattisgarh opener Aayush Pandey and Devdutt Padikkal were unbeaten on 20 each at stumps.
India A had claimed a first-innings lead of 122 after dismissing Sri Lanka A for 330 in their first innings. Resuming from an overnight 113 for 2, they were guided by half-centuries from captain Sahan Arachchige (72) and Ashen Bandara (70). Nuwandi Fernando, who had passed his own fifty on day two, had his innings cut short on 84 on day three.
For India A, Auqib Nabi, who was the top wicket taker in the previous Ranji Trophy season and was a net bowler during India’s one-off Test against Afghanistan in New Chandigarh, was the pick of the bowlers, returning 4 for 58 in 19.4 overs. Sri Lanka A lost their last five wickets for 30 runs, with Nabi taking four of those.
Left-arm fingerspin-bowling allrounder Harsh Dubey and Vidarbha fast bowler Yash Thakur picked up two wickets apiece. India A then closed out the day on 48 for 0.
Scores:
India A 48 for 0 in 17 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 20*, Ayush Pandey 20*) and 452 for 6 dec in 111.4 overs [Sai Sudarshan 132, Dhruv Jurel 141, Shaik Rasheed 63; Chamika Gunasekera 3-64, Dilum Sudeera 2-143] lead Sri Lanka A 330 in 101.4 overs (Nuwanidu Fernando 84, Ashen Bandara 70, Sahan Arachchige 72; Aaqib Nabi 4-58, YashThakur 2-51, Harsh Dubey 2-84) by 170 runs
[Cricinfo]
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