Gulbadin Naib, Afghanistan's all-rounder and Player of the Match for his vital contributions toward their historic 21-run victory over Australia in the 2024 Men's T20 World Cup Super Eights, expressed his elation and relief at beating a team that commands great respect from them in international cricket.
Naib proved to be instrumental at Arnos Vale Stadium with figures of 4-20. He turned in a match-winning spell, four continuous overs, in which he removed Marcus Stoinis and Tim David, then got the important wicket of Glenn Maxwell for 59 runs in the 14th over, which seemed to signal the end of Australia's hopes of winning.
This result offers Afghanistan a chance to make it through to the semifinals, which surprisingly ends up opening up Group 1. The result will be all the more sweet for them, as they had previously beenoleaned on occasions by Australia in World Cups.
"In the 2022 T20 World Cup, we missed beating Australia by just one run, and in the 2023 ODI World Cup, our hopes were dashed by Glenn Maxwell's undefeated 200," he recalled.
"We finally have beaten Australia and it's a big thing for Afghan cricket. Considering our history of cricket, this is huge for us. We have achieved a lot in ten years. This win is huge," Naib said at the post-match press conference.
He praised captain Rashid Khan for his confidence in his bowling abilities, saying it was during that very juncture: "We've been waiting for this win for so long. It isn't only my personal achievement but a very proud moment for my nation and its people."
Rashid Khan also termed Afghanistan's third attempt at beating Australia in World Cups a massive one, calling it an honor and hoping to make their fans proud.
"It's massive win for us as a team and as a nation. Beating champions in the World Cup is a great feeling. It's something we missed in the last two years," said Rashid.
The Afghans were driven to a good start by Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran, who put on a vital opening stand of 118 runs before Afghanistan finished their innings at 148/6. A late collapse saw them lose their last six wickets for just 17 runs, which included a hat-trick from Pat Cummins.
Rashid acknowledged how the work by Afghanistan's eight bowlers had sewn seeds of hope by limiting Australia to 127 all out in 19.2 overs.
"Though the finish wasn't quite what we wanted, the opening really laid a great platform. We felt that anything over 130 was a good score to defend on this surface. So many all-rounders give us flexibility," says Rashid.
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