Afghanistan was not among the favourites. But after two matches, they are waiting to rise to the Super Eight as the fifth team. With an eye on the next round, the Afghans will face Papua New Guinea at 6-30 am Bangladesh time on Friday.
Afghanistan started the T20 World Cup 2024 like a dream. In the first match Uganda was blown away. Then by crushing New Zealand, they have one step in the Super Eight.
In the previous edition in 2022, Afghanistan reached the Super Twelve. But not a single win. Three matches were lost and the other two were washed away by rain.
Openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran claim much of the credit for their success this year. They scored 154 runs against Uganda and had a pair of 103 runs against New Zealand. Gurbaz scored half centuries in both matches.
Afghanistan’s middle-order failure has been overshadowed by the dominance of the opening pair. After breaking the opening pair against New Zealand, 6 wickets fell for 55 runs.
For Papua New Guinea, this could be a great strategy to stop Afghanistan. They can do well if they can separate their opening pair. New Guinea has not won so far, but it has fought and known the breed.
New Guinea put them under pressure despite scoring 136 runs in the first match against the West Indies. The Caribbean won in the last over. In the second match, New Guinea set a target of only 78 runs to Uganda. Then sweat left them. Uganda reached the target by losing 7 wickets.
New Guinea will get full support from New Zealand fans in this match. Because Kiwi’s Super Eight hopes may end in this match. They are looking for a win for New Guinea against Afghanistan. Because Afghans will get Super Eight tickets if they win this match, and New Zealand, who have played knockouts in every ICC global event since 2015, will fall prematurely.
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