The Rashid Khan-led Afghanistan kept believing in themselves. After setting a below par total, the team did not lose hope and fought till the end to emerge victorious against Bangladesh to reach their first-ever semifinal in World Cups. Players were emotional on the field as they celebrated the win which meant more for the people back home. While Afghanistan did it in T20 World Cup, more than two decades earlier, another associate nation did it in 2003 ODI World Cup. Kenya stunned a few opponents with terrific performances and made it to their first semifinal.
Kenya beat big guns, get help from walkover against New Zealand
Kenya started their campaign with a demoralising 10-wicket defeat to South Africa. They registered their first win by six wickets against Canada. They won against New Zealand by walkover as New Zealand forfeited in Nairobi due to safety concerns. They stunned Sri Lanka in their fourth group stage game with a 53-run win. Kenya continued their winning run and beat Bangladesh by 32 runs. Their winning streak was ended by West Indies. They lost by a big margin of 142 runs. Despite the loss Kenya finished second on Group B and advanced to the Super Sixes stage.
Two losses at Super Sixes stage
Their first Super 6 clash was against Sourav Ganguly-led India. Kenya posed a challenge but lost to India by six wickets. They bowled out Zimbabwe for 133 and chased the target down with seven wickets in hand and 24 overs to spare. Their third and last Super Sixes game was against Australia. They were not given a chance by Ricky Ponting's Australia and suffered a comprehensive five-wicket win.
How Kenya qualified for the semifinal?
While Kenya won just one game at the Super Sixes stage, they still managed to make it to the semifinal. How? You may ask. It was because of the points system. Every team that qualifies for the Super Sixes carried four points each for a win against a team that qualified for the second round. There were two points for a drawn or no result game against a qualified opponent. For wins against other teams, they got one point each.
Kenya had 14 points and were ranked third on the Super Sixes points table. The walkover turned out to be costly for New Zealand as they failed to make it to last four. Kenya became the first associate nation to make it to a World Cup semifinal.
Kenya’s semifinal clash
In the semifinal, Ganguly's unbeaten 111 and Sachin Tendulkar's 83-run knock helped India post 270/4. Kenya suffered a collapse early in the run chase and could not recover. Captain Steve Tikolo with a half-century fought a lone battle as Kenya were bowled out for 179 and their fairytale run came to an end with a 91-run loss.
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