On Saturday (Sunday morning in India), Afghanistan produced an all-round show to put it across the formidable Australian team for a 21-run victory in a Group 1 game of the ‘Super 8s’ stage.
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While Rahmanullah Gurbaz (60) and Ibrahim Zadran (51) led the team’s batting to put up 148 for 6 on the board on a challenging track, pacers Gulbadin Naib (4 for 20) and Naveen ul Haq (3 for 20) bowled their heart out to knock the Aussies over for 127 at the Arnos Vale Ground.
The victory scenes on the ground saw the Afghan players and coaching staff leaping over each other to celebrate. Later, the celebrations extended to the team bus, where the players danced to Dwayne Bravo‘s song ‘Champion’. Incidentally, Bravo is also Afghanistan’s bowling consultant for the T20 World Cup.
A video of the players dancing has gone viral on social media.
Afghanistan’s iconic win has made them a contender for one of the two semifinal spots available in Group 1. However, they will have to not just beat Bangladesh in their last ‘Super 8s’ match but also hope that India defeat Australia to knock them out of the tournament.
India take on Australia on June 24 at 2000 IST, while Afghanistan face Bangladesh on June 25 at 0600 IST.
