Australian Test opener Usman Khawaja took a potshot at Cricket Australia and its move of not playing any bilateral series against Afghanistan after the latter beat them by 21 runs in the T20 World Cup, in the Super Eight game. As much as Afghanistan played out of their skins—with the inspirational Rashid Khan "spectacularly" leading from the front—Usman Khawaja took to social media to raise an ovation for their victory and to highlight that they had served as an inspiration to many people at home and worldwide.
“Well done Brother. Better team on the day. You boys are an inspiration for so many back home and abroad. So sad we can’t see you all play in Australia,” Khawaja posted on X.
The stance taken by Cricket Australia is in retaliation for their overall outrage against the actions of the Taliban since their takeover of Afghanistan back in September 2021, specifically restricting women's involvement in sports. This led to the scrapping of a one-off Test and a three-match ODI series against Afghanistan that was to be played in the UAE in 2023. The latest casualty is a three-match T20 series that CA has indefinitely postponed.
In the contest itself, batting first on a challenging pitch at the Arnos Vale Ground in St Vincent, Afghanistan still mustered a respectable total of 148/6. Openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran notched 118 for their stand against Australia in any T20—another record high. The Australian bowlers hit back, however, towards the end of the innings with Pat Cummins claiming his second career hat-trick following the recent feat just a few days earlier.
The Australian batsmen responded poorly to be bowled out for finally 127 runs. Glenn Maxwell showed some resistance—an admirable 59 off 41 balls countering the strong Afghanistan bowling attack on a turning pitch—fell well short of pulling off what he did at the ODI World Cup.
After defeating Australia, Afghanistan would continue to be in the running for a semifinal spot. Their challenge against Bangladesh would be big; that would take place on June 25th.
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