ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Group 1, Adelaide
Australia 168-8 (20 overs): Maxwell 54* (32), Marsh 45 (30); Naveen 2-20
Afghanistan 164-7 (20 overs): Rashid 48* (23), Gulbuddin 39 (23), Garbaz 30 (17)
Australia won by four runs.
Australia beat Afghanistan by four runs in the Men’s T20 World Cup but failed to get the net run rate swing needed to boost their chances.
This means that if England beat Sri Lanka by any margin on Saturday, they will progress at the expense of the hosts.
If Sri Lanka win, Australia will join New Zealand in progressing from Group 1 to the last four.
Australia needed a big win in Adelaide to put pressure on England but could not break free with the bat as they were restricted to 168-8, meaning they needed to keep Afghanistan below 119 to overtake England on net run rate. . .
In the end Australia, without injured captain Aaron Finch or the intriguingly dropped Mitchell Starc, almost lost, which would have ended their hopes.
Afghanistan reached 98-2 after 13 overs of their target and the loss of three wickets from four balls – a brilliant Glenn Maxwell run-out and two by spinner Adam Zampa – swung the game to Australia.
Rashid Khan then scored 48 not out off 23 balls but with 22 runs needed in the last over, Rashid hit a six and two fours, despite Afghanistan falling short.
Earlier, David Warner had given Australia a flying start with 28 but a steady loss of wickets checked the score, with Maxwell making an unbeaten 54 off 32 balls.
Credit must also go to Afghanistan’s excellent bowling performance, with Naveen-ul-Haq finishing off a brilliant innings and taking 2-20.
New Zealand have already secured one of the two semi-final spots by defeating Ireland on Friday. They will almost certainly take the top spot unless England win by a large margin.
