In a thrilling encounter interrupted by rain multiple times, Afghanistan beat Bangladesh to reach T20 World Cup 2024 and knock Australia out of the tournament. One of the most talked about points was not any of the dismissals but Gulbadin Naib allegedly faking a cramp in his hamstring as soon as coach Jonathan Trott asked his players to slow it down with heavy rain approaching. While Naib’s antics were criticised by many, Australia captain Mitchell Marsh sees the funny side of the incident.
"I was almost in tears laughing and at the end of the day it had no bearing on the game. So, we can laugh about it now – but, gee, it was funny. It was outstanding," Marsh told cricket.com.au.
Just a warning for Naib from referee
Afghanistan were two runs ahead of Bangladesh as per DLS score when the incident took place. As the game resumed after a few minutes, Rashid Khan gave Naib his first over of the innings. He delivered with the wicket of Tanzim Hasan Sakib and did not show any signs of cramps in his celebration. Later, when Afghanistan won the game he was celebrating as if he was fully fit. The former Afghanistan captain had a close call with the match referee Richie Richardson as he let him off the hook with a final warning.
Australia have themselves to blame
Marsh revealed that the whole team watched the group as their future in the tournament depended on it. He said that the blame lies with the team as they lost two of their Super 8 matches including the first-ever defeat to Afghanistan.
"We watched it (the match) as a group. It was obviously a pretty amazing game, wasn't it? A lot of twists and turns.
"Obviously, you want to keep playing this tournament and that was our only way of doing it. But there's also the element that it was completely out of our control and we only had ourselves to blame for that," said Marsh.
The all-rounder recalled the disappointment in the room when Naveen-ul-Haq dismissed Mustafizur Rahman to help his team win by eight runs (DLS method) and seal their spot in the semifinals.
"We were all flat (when the final wicket fell). We were desperate to continue on in the tournament. But fair play to Afghanistan – they beat us and they beat Bangladesh and they deserve to be in the semifinals," added the 32-year-old.
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