Afghanistan reach World Cup semis and knock Australia out

Afghanistan reached a first ever World Cup semi-final courtesy of a dramatic eight-run victory over Bangladesh which in turn knocked Australia out of the T20 tournament.

Bangladesh came into the game with a chance to progress or send Australia through with a victory but – chasing a Duckworth-Lewis-Stern revised target of 114 in 19 overs as rain affected their innings – were bowled out for 105.

Captain Rashid Khan (4-23) and Naveen-ul-Haq (4-26) each took four wickets in the victory that secures Afghanistan a historic first World Cup semi-final against South Africa in Trinidad on Wednesday evening.

Afghanistan’s hopes were earlier dented when restricted to a modest 115-5 batting first, Rahmanullah Gurbaz top-scoring, but using up 55 deliveries to reach 43.

Rishad Hossain (3-26) ultimately dismissed the opener Afghanistan suffered a dramatic collapse from 84-1 to 93-5 in the space of 11 balls, before Rashid later blasted three sixes in his 10-ball 19.

In the final over, the Afghanistan skipper was so desperate for late runs that he hurled his bat at his batting partner Karim Janat in fury when refused a second run.

Needing to chased down their target inside 12.1 overs in order to seal a semi-final spot themselves, Bangladesh came up well short in their rain-affected reply.

Litton Das struck an unbeaten 54 from 49, but wickets regularly tumbled at the other end, including two in two balls for Rashid in the 11th over that reduced the Tigers to 80-7.

Naveen then wrapped up the innings and the semi-final-clinching victory with his own double-strike with back-to-back deliveries in the penultimate over, prompting tearful celebrations from the Afghanistan players.

India, who beat Australia by 24 runs earlier on Monday in St Lucia to leave the qualification hopes of the 2021 champions hanging by a thread, will take on holders England in the second semi-final.