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Afghanistan squared off against Bangladesh at the Arnos Vale Stadium in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on Tuesday morning (IST) as both teams had the chance to qualify for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 semi-finals. After beating Australia in their previous clash, high on confidence Afghanistan defeated Bangladesh to clinch the semi-final berth. However, a hilarious incident caught the attention of many where Afghanistan all-rounder Gulbadin Naib went down holding his hamstring following Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott's signal to slow things down.
After India beat Australia in their Super 8 clash, it opened the way for Afghanistan and Bangladesh to reach their first T20 World Cup semi-finals. While Afghanistan needed just a win, Bangladesh were required to beat their opponents by a decent margin to manage a better net run rate.
In the 12th over, the rain stopped play and the match was reduced to 19 overs with Bangladesh needing 114 runs to win. As it was slightly drizzling, Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott signalled from the dugout to slow things down as Bangladesh were two runs behind the DLS par score of 83 at 11.4 overs. Following the signal, Naib went down holding his hamstring and while umpires wanted the game to continue, they had to call for the covers.
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While Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan was absolutely livid with Naib's antics, the commentary panel was in splits and even called the incident an Oscar-winning act.
After a short delay, the game started as Bangladesh required 33 off 44 to win the match while Naib was substituted by Najibullah Zadran. Surprisingly, Gulbadin Naib returned to the field, bowled the 15th over, and picked up a wicket while giving away just two runs. A win for Bangladesh meant Australia would qualify for the semi-final but Afghanistan held their nerves and defeated Bangladesh by 8 runs via the DLS method.
With this win, Afghanistan reached their first World Cup semi-final and are now scheduled to face South Africa, who are yet to lose a game in the T20 World Cup 2024. Afghanistan and South Africa will square off against each other in the T20 World Cup 2024 semifinal on Thursday morning (IST) at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad and Tobago.
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