Australia now face an uphill task to qualify for T20 World Cup semi-finals after losing to Afghanistan in their second Super 8s clash on Sunday afternoon (AEST).
This is the first time that Afghanistan beat Australia in a game of cricketin all formats.
The Middle Eastern nation edged out the Aussies in Adelaide during the 2022 T20 World Cup and again in India at the Wankhede during last year’s ODI World Cup when only the odd Glenn Maxwell double hundred saved the Australians.
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But the Afghans finally broke their Australian duck in St Vincent on Saturday night local time, strangling Australia to 21 wins.
“You’re witnessing something pretty special,” Ian Smith said in commentary.
Needing 24 from the final over, Australian opener Adam Zampa managed just two off the first ball before being caught at long off the next ball as the storming favorites were bowled out for 127 in 19.2 overs.
“They outplayed Australia – no question about it,” Ricky Ponting said.
An uncharacteristically sloppy fielding performance allowed Afghanistan to take the total to 6-148 on a difficult wicket, a score that Smith and Ponting agreed was above par.
It didn’t bode well for Australia when opener Travis Head was dropped for a duck in reply, but he wasn’t alone.
Australia’s hopes once again rested on Maxwell, who was the only Australian to score over 12.
But his 59 off 41 was not enough as Gulbadin Naib and Naveen-ul-Haq wreaked havoc with seven wickets between them.
Speaking after the match, Australian captain Mitch Marsh admitted the match was lost on the field.
“It was an off night for us on the field and we recognize that,” Marsh said.
“That’s one of the great things about our team — it’s an experienced group.
“We had an off night and we will be better in the next game.”
Marsh said his side had left themselves too many runs to chase with the poor fielding effort.
“I think they probably got 20 too many and to be honest they just played a really good game of cricket,” he said.
“I thought we were outplayed tonight.”
Australia are now third in their Super 8s group with one win and one loss and face a must-win clash with tournament favorites India in the coming days.
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