St. Vincent, Grenada: In the match at Arnos Vale Cricket ground of the ICC Twenty20 World Cup Super 8 stage, Afghanistan only produced an upset victory over the Australians by 21 runs. This was the first time Afghanistan ever defeated mighty Australians in any format of the T20 International cricket.

It also brought the aggregate of the two teams in Group 1 to a two-all tie. Australia had earlier defeated Bangladesh, and Afghanistan had a setback against India.

Going for a meagre rate of 149 set by Afghanistan, the Australian batting was in trouble. However, while light was provided in the form of a 59-run innings from the bats of Glenn Maxwell, which included six fours and three sixes, Australia was able to muster a poor total of 127 in 19.2 overs. Josh Philippe and Aaron Hardie performed poorly, scoring just 12 and 11. At the same time, Captain Mitchell Marsh and Marcus Stoinis also struggled with their batting, returning to the team’s pavilion, the stags scoring just a combined total of 23 on the board.

Afghanistan’s man of the match was their all-rounder Gulbadin Naib, who struck a blow for the Australians by taking four wickets. Naveen-ul-Haq made three helpful bowling contributions, while the other bowlers, Rashid Khan, Azmatullah Omarzai, and Mohammad Nabi, took one wicket each.

Before this, Afghanistan, after being put into bat, got off to a good start for the side with Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran, who added 118 runs for the opening wicket. Gurbaz stood out as the most dominant, scoring a well-measured 60 out of 49 balls that comprised four fours and a six. Zadran scored 51 off 48, threatening the batsmen with six fours.

The Afghan cricket team’s bowling and batting outclassed other cricket teams. Australia’s Pat Cummins, who bowled a second successive hat-trick of the tournament. Adam Zampa captured two wickets for his side, while Marcus Stoinis managed to get a wicket for his side.

This historic victory by Afghanistan has significantly altered the dynamics of Group 1. The next victories in the remaining matches will now define the outcome in the semi-finals for each of the two teams. The clash between Afghanistan and Australia promises to be a nail-biter as Afghanistan continues to ride the high of this upset, and the Australians are equally determined to make amends.