ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, Super 8s Group 1, St Vincent
Afghanistan 115-5 (20 overs): Gurbaz 43 (55); Rishad 3-26
Bangladesh 105 all out (17.5 overs): Das 54* (49); Rashid 4-23, Naveen 4-26
Afghanistan won by 8 runs (DLS method)
Scorecard. Tables
Afghanistan qualified for the semi-finals of a World Cup for the first time by beating Bangladesh by eight runs in a tense low-scoring classic in St Vincent.
The victory sees them progress as runners-up from Super 8s Group 1, while putting Bangladesh, and heavyweights Australia, out of the tournament.
They will now play South Africa in Trinidad on Thursday (01:30 BST), and are one match away from facing either defending T20 champions England or India in Saturday’s final.
Needing a win to advance to the knockout stage, Afghanistan underperformed with the bat, scoring 115-5.
A rollercoaster, rain-interrupted run chase ensued, in which both sides and then Australia looked to be favourites to progress at different stages.
Ultimately it was Afghanistan who emerged triumphant, with captain Rashid Khan and Naveen-ul-Haq taking four wickets apiece to secure a famous victory.
Bangladesh, who were also seeking to reach their first World Cup semi-final, needed to win by a large margin to qualify on net run-rate (NRR).
They successfully throttled the dangerous Afghanistan opening pair of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran, who both fell to leg-spinner Rishad Hossain (3-26), but Rashid hit three late sixes to boost the total.
Bangladesh’s target was revised to 114 off 19 overs, but they knew they had to knock off the runs in 12.1 overs to turn the NRR in their favour.
Opener Litton Das anchored the innings, ending on 54 not out, but they lost veteran Shakib al Hasan and captain Najmul Hossain Shanto to successive balls from Naveen in the third over.
Despite failing with their own quest, the Tigers remained in contention for a consolation win that would have seen Australia qualify ahead of Afghanistan on NRR.
But Naveen took the final two Bangladesh wickets in successive deliveries, either side of a short rain delay, to begin rapturous celebrations.
Brilliant Afghanistan keep making history
For Afghanistan, qualification for the semi-final was another step on the remarkable journey they’ve taken since first qualifying for a T20 World Cup in 2010.
Having emerged from a labyrinth system of qualifying events in the 2000s, they have established themselves as perennial tournament qualifiers, but exited before the knockout rounds in their nine previous World Cup campaigns, spanning both T20s and ODIs.
They progressed from the first of two group stages in this year’s competition, finishing runners-up in Group C, but lost heavily in their final match against the West Indies, and were easily beaten by India in the first match of the Super 8s.
However, they came roaring back to defeat previously-unbeaten Australia on Sunday to put themselves in the driving seat for semi-final qualification.
Much of their success in this tournament has been off the back of a mountain of runs from openers Gurbaz and Zadran, but the pair found themselves becalmed, reaching 58 at the halfway stage of the first innings.
Zadran fell shortly afterwards, while Gurbaz failed to push on, finally falling for 43 off 56 balls in the 17th over, his side just scraping past the hundred mark in the penultimate over.
Bangladesh had to play riskily to have a chance of progressing, and fell to 23-3 within three overs.
Nonetheless they continued to edge towards their target around short rain showers, provoking irritated reactions on the boundary from Jonathan Trott, who has coached Afghanistan since 2022.
But the former England batter could rely on his bank of quality bowlers to ensure another chapter in Afghanistan’s storied cricketing journey was written in St Vincent.