Australia won against Afghanistan in a must-win game to survive in the semifinal race. Afghanistan fought till the end but in the end, it lost the match by just four runs. After this match, New Zealand officially qualified for the semifinal and most likely, it will end up in first place in the points table.
Australia’s captain Aaron Finch missed the match due to a hamstring injury. Even Tim David is rested. Cameron Green and Steve Smith were taken into the playing XI. Both of them failed to do well. Glenn Maxwell’s unbeaten half-century (54*), David Warner’s solid start (25), and Mitchell Marsh (45) and Marcus Stoinis’s (25) valuable knocks helped Australia in scoring 168/8 in 20 overs. Naveen-ul-Haq (3/21) impressed everyone by scalping three wickets.
Afghanistan lost the wicket of Usman Ghani pretty early in the chase. But impressive knocks from Rahmanullah Gurbaz (30), Ibrahim Zadran (26) and Gulbadin Naib (39) kept their team alive in the chase. Once they got out, it looked like it all ended for Afghanistan. That’s when Rashid Khan (48* off 23 balls)came into bat and turned the game. His quick-fire innings almost brought his team back into the match. In the last over, Afghanistan needed 22 runs to win and it scored 17 runs. It lost the match by a whisker. It ended its innings at 164/7.
Australia won the match and is standing with 7 points on the points table. The equation is simple now. If England beats Sri Lanka tomorrow, England will qualify for the semifinals. If Sri Lanka beats England, Australia will qualify for the next stage. Thus, tomorrow’s game will be an interesting one to watch out for.
