T20 World Cup 2024: Afghanistan vs Bangladesh, 52nd Match - Who Said What?

In the 52nd match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 Super Eights, Afghanistan triumphed over Bangladesh by eight runs using the DLS method at Kingstown on June 24, 2024.

Batting first, Afghanistan set a modest target of 115/5 in their 20 overs, with Rahmanullah Gurbaz top-scoring with a steady 43 off 55 balls, featuring three boundaries and one six. The innings started positively but faced regular setbacks due to disciplined bowling from Bangladesh.

Rishad Hossain led the Bangladeshi bowling attack with impressive figures of 4-0-26-3, supported by Taskin Ahmed, who bowled economically to take one wicket for 12 runs in his four overs, and Mustafizur Rahman, who also took one wicket. 

Rashid and Naveen wreak havoc on the Bangladeshi batting

Chasing a revised target of 114 runs from 19 overs due to a brief rain interruption, Bangladesh struggled against a disciplined Afghan bowling attack and managed only 105 runs in 17.5 overs. Litton Das stood out with a composed and unbeaten 54 off 49 balls, but despite his valiant effort, Bangladesh's batting line-up faltered. 

Also Read: T20 World Cup 2024: Gulbadin Naib pulls his hamstring with Bangladesh 2 run behind DLS par score

Rashid Khan, leading from the front, took four wickets for 23 runs, and Naveen-ul-Haq mirrored his captain's performance with four wickets for 26 runs. The Afghan bowlers executed their plans perfectly, defending a modest total with excellent fielding and tight bowling. Despite a strong start to their innings, Bangladesh could not withstand the pressure exerted by the Afghan attack, resulting in a thrilling victory for Afghanistan in the Super Eights stage of the T20 World Cup 2024.

Rashid Khan, the Winning Captain said

It's something like a dream for us as a team being in the semifinal. It's all about the way we have started the tournament. The belief came while we beat NZ. I don;t have any words to describe the feeling. The only guy who put us in the semifinal was Brian Lara and we proved it right. I told him we won;t let you down. We thought 130-135 was a good total on this wicket. We were 15-20 runs short. It was all about mindset. We knew they would come hard at us to chase that in 12 overs. That's where we could take advantage, We just had to be clear with our plans. We put in the effort, that's in our hands. Everyone did a wonderful job. In T20s, we have a strong base, especially in bowling. The quality of fast bowling we have, they are skillful. They have great starts in this competition and it makes our job easier in the middle. Rain was on and off, but mentally we were there. We had to take 10 wickets, that's the only way to get to the semifinal, there's no other way. Gulbadin had some cramps I think, hopefully he'll be alright. That wicket he took was massive for us. It's a massive celebration back home. The country will be very proud back home. Being in the semis is big now, we have to go with a clear mind. We'll have to keep things simple and make sure we enjoy the big occasion.

Najmul Hossain Shanto, the Losing Captain said

Najmul Hossain Shanto | Bangladesh captain: I think we bowled really well, we did lots of good things but as a batting unit, we made poor decision especially in the middle overs. The plan was to go hard in the first six wickets, that didn't happen and the middle-order couldn't execute. The whole tournament we bowled really well, especially Rishad the new guy, the fast bowlers also did really well. The batting needs to improve, the top-order didn't perform well. It can happen, the ball got wet and that's a good thing. As I said, we didn't execute well with the bat and made a lot of wrong decisions.

Naveen-ul-Haq, Player of the Match said

Thank you so much, I want to thank mighty Allah for this achievement, we have worked hard for this since the last few years, we were dreaming and working for this day and it’s a surreal feeling. We always knew that they would go hard in the powerplay to chase the total down in 12.1 overs, so we knew we were in the game, the plan was simple - to mix it up and we got crucial wickets in the powerplay. These are the games you never know what can happen, after a boundary, you feel the game is gone, but a wicket brings you back in the game, so the margin for error is very small. These kind of wickets are not high-scoring ones so you are always in the game. We have worked hard for this and we are in the semis, we are very happy.