T20 WC 2024: Decoding Afghanistan's run in group stage
We are done and dusted with the league stage of the ongoing 2024 ICC T20 World Cup in West Indies and USA. Afghanistan are among the eight teams to qualify for the next stage as they finished second in Group C with three wins across four games. They won their first three games before losing to West Indies. Let's decode their campaign so far.
Summary of Afghanistan's campaign
Afghanistan thrashed Uganda by 125 runs in their opener. They even demolished New Zealand by 84 runs in their second fixture. They chased down 96 against PNG to seal a Super 8 berth. While Rashid Khan's team bowled out their opposition under 100 runs in the aforementioned games, they conceded 218/5 against WI and later lost the duel by 104 runs.
Historic triumph over Uganda
Against Uganda, Afghanistan recorded the fifth-biggest T20 WC win in terms of runs (125). This was also the second-biggest win for Afghanistan in overall T20Is. Their 130-run triumph against Scotland in the 2021 T20 WC takes the top spot. Afghanistan are now the only team with multiple wins by 120-plus runs in T20 WCs. Uganda recorded the seventh-lowest total in the competition's history (58).
Record stand from Gurbaz and Zadran
The Uganda game saw Rahmanullah Gurbaz (76) and Ibrahim Zadran (70) record the second-highest opening stand in T20 WC history (154). They are only behind England's Alex Hales and Jos Buttler, who added 170* runs against India (2022). Farooqi finished with 5/9 in the game, the fourth-best bowling figures in T20 WC history. He also took four wickets against NZ in his next outing.
Memorable win versus New Zealand
Afghanistan defeated New Zealand for the first time in international cricket. A collective bowling performance from the Afghan team meant the Kiwis recorded their second-lowest T20 WC total (75). They were bundled out for 60 in the 2014 game against Sri Lanka.
Key records scripted by players
Farooqi became the first bowler to claim at least four wickets in successive T20 WC matches. Rashid's 4/17 against NZ are the best figures by a captain in the competition's history. Gurbaz and Ibrahim, who added 103 runs versus NZ, became the first opening pair to record successive century stands in T20 WCs.
Unwanted record for Azmatullah Omarzai
WI's Nicholas Pooran hit Azmatullah Omarzai for three sixes and two fours in one over. As the pacer also conceded 10 extra runs, he bowled the joint-most expensive over in T20 WC history (36 runs). He joined Stuart Broad on this unwanted list as the latter was smashed for six successive sixes by Yuvraj Singh in the 2007 edition.
Massive defeat versus WI
WI's 218/5 against Afghanistan is the highest team score in the ongoing tourney. Afghanistan suffered their second-biggest T20I defeat in terms of runs (104). The also game saw WI record the highest powerplay total in T20 WCs (92/1). They went past Ireland's 91/1 against the Netherlands in the 2014 edition.
Here are Afghanistan's key performers
With 12 scalps, Farooqi finished the league stage as the leading wicket-taker (ER: 6.66). Rashid and Naveen-ul-Haq claimed six and five wickets apiece. Meanwhile, Gurbaz finished the round as the highest run-getter. He aggregated 167 runs at a stunning strike rate of 150.45. His opening partner Ibrahim narrowly trails him with 152 runs at a strike rate of 124.59.
