ADELAIDE: The defending champions Australia claimed two crucial points as they edged Afghanistan by a mere four runs but remained on the brink of elimination from the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 due to a lesser net run rate.

Despite their third win in five matches, the defending champions’ semi-final qualification is subjected to England losing their last Super 12s match as the latter take on Sri Lanka on Saturday. England’s victory over Sri Lanka, by any margin, would take them to this year’s mega event semi-final as Jos Buttler-led side have a better net run rate than Australia.

Earlier, last year’s finalists New Zealand became the first team from any of the two groups to book their berth in the semi-finals, courtesy of Australia failing to amass 185 in the first innings against Afghanistan. Afghanistan, set to chase 169, narrowly missed upsetting the defending champions and fell just four runs short. Rashid Khan’s quickfire cameo of an unbeaten 48 off just 23 deliveries kept the game alive for Afghanistan but Marcus Stoinis held his nerves calm in the final over as he defended 23 runs to keep the Asian side at bay. Besides Rashid, Gulbadin Naib also added to the misery of the Aussies with his magnificent 39-run knock as he conceded just 23 deliveries before a direct hit from Glenn Maxwell ended his impressive knock.

Adam Zampa and Josh Hazlewood bagged two wickets each for Australia, while Kane Richardson made one scalp. Australia, batting first on the invitation of Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi, managed to amass 168/8 in their quota of 20 overs, thanks to a quick unbeaten fifty from Maxwell in the death overs. The side embarked on their innings with a decent run rate as their left-handed opener David Warner provided a solid foundation with a quick cameo of 25 in just 18 deliveries, while his partner Cameron Green could score just three.

The defending champions had a new batting pair – Mitchell Marsh and Steve Smith – at the crease but they failed to anchor the innings as the latter fell just after scoring four. Following the slump, Marsh then joined hands with Marcus Stoinis and carried the proceeding to 83/3 in the 10th over.

Afghan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rehman, however, struck in the 11th over to put an end to the budding partnership as he got Marsh caught behind. The all-rounder fell five runs short of his half-century as he scored a quick 45 off just 30 deliveries with the help of three boundaries and two sixes. Marcus Stoinis then attempted to stop the flow of wickets as he anchored the innings with a sensible 25-run knock off 21 balls and added 53 runs for the fifth wicket with Maxwell before falling in the 16th over. Following his dismissal, Australia then began to lose wickets at an alarming rate as Matthew Wade (6), Pat Cummins (0), and Kane Richardson (1) fell cheaply. Maxwell held his ground firm and kept the scoreboard ticking single-handedly and guided Australia to 168/8 in 20 overs.

The right-handed top-scored with an unbeaten half-century and amassed 54 runs off just 32 balls, laced with six boundaries and two sixes. Naveen-ul-Haq led the bowling attack for Afghanistan with 3/21, while Fazalhaq Farooqi bagged two wickets. Rashid Khan and Mujeeb, on the other hand, struck out a batter each.

Published in The Daily National Courier, November, 05 2022

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