Adelaide (The Hawk): Australia beat Afghanistan by four runs in their final Group 1 encounter of the Super 12s of the Men's T20 World Cup on Friday at the Adelaide Oval despite a late cameo from Rashid Khan.
Gulbadin Naib and Ibrahim Zadran were guiding Afghanistan to a historic victory with their 59-run stand-off 46 balls for the third wicket after Glenn Maxwell scored an unbeaten 54 off 32 balls to lift Australia to a respectable 168/6.
However, Australia came back, causing Afghanistan to lose ground, dropping from 99/2 to 103/6. Rashid, however, maintained the hope of an unlikely triumph alive with a 23-ball 48 that included three fours and four sixes and a strike rate of 208.7.
Even though he gave Australia a major fright by getting Afghanistan to 164/7 in 20 overs, he ultimately had too much to do to pull off a memorable triumph. At the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday, Sri Lanka must defeat England in order for Australia, the hosts and defending champions, to advance to the semifinals.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz got Afghanistan off to a fast start in the chase and appeared to be a threat, but Kane Richardson struck in his first over and sent him back for a 17-ball 30 while Usman Ghani was cheaply eliminated by Josh Hazlewood. Together, Naib and Zadran fueled Afghanistan's push for a historic victory.
With three fours and two sixes in his quick-fire 23-ball 39, Naib was assisted in the third wicket partnership by Zadran, who scored 26 off 33 balls. However, Afghanistan lost several wickets quickly, which allowed Australia to into the match.
Before Adam Zampa and Josh Hazelwood removed Ibrahim Zadran and Najibullah Zadran and Naib and Mohammad Nabi, respectively, Australia had aspirations of bowling out Afghanistan. However, Naib was run out by a direct smash from Glenn Maxwell in the deep.
Rashid scored several late boundaries to keep Afghanistan in the hunt for a come-from-behind victory. Australia was able to defend 22 off the final over after Darwish Rasooli was run out in the 19th over despite Rashid hitting two fours and a six against a bowling attack that needed to dismiss Afghanistan for 106 or less in order to surpass England's net run rate.
Brief scores: Australia 168/8 in 20 overs (Glenn Maxwell 54 not out, Mitchell Marsh 45; Naveen-ul-Haq 3/21, Fazalhaq Farooqui 2/29) beat Afghanistan 164/7 in 20 overs (Rashid Khan 48 not out, Gulbadin Naib 39; Adam Zampa 2/22, Josh Hazlewood 2/33) by four runs.
(Inputs from Agencies)