Watch: Rashid Khan blasted two sixes from two balls a brutal innings which nearly saw Afghanistan pull off a remarkable victory over Australia in their final match of the 2022 T20 World Cup.
Afghanistan were chasing 165 at the Adelaide Oval, in a match Australia needed to win to give them a chance of qualifying for the tournament semifinals. Rashid came to the crease after his side had collapsed from 99-2 to 103-6, four wickets having fallen in nine balls.
It looked like an impossible task but Rashid blasted 48* off 23 deliveries, Afghanistan falling short by just four runs in a tense finish. The first of his four sixes was a crunching pull shot off Kane Richardson over deep-midwicket, the ball sailing deep into the bottom tier of the stands. He made it back-to-back maximums, this time thumping Richardson over long-off with a flourishing shot from a wide-ish length ball.
Josh Hazlewood was also a victim of Rashid’s assault the following over, banging the ball in short off his third delivery only for Rashid to top-edge it high in the air over deep-midwicket for a 72m six.
With Afghanistan needing 17 off the final three balls of the match and Marcus Stoinis bowling, Rashid needed to hit three consecutive maximums. He gave Afghanistan fans hope by walloping the first delivery again over deep-midwicket for the biggest six of the lot. It was a slower ball from Stoinis that sat up nicely for Rashid to hit 83m back.
He couldn’t repeat the feat the next ball, however, and despite a four off the final delivery of the game, Australia survived Rashid’s scare. The Adelaide Oval is Rashid’s home ground in the Big Bash League for the Strikers, winning the title with the side in 2018.
Afghanistan finish their 2022 T20 World Cup campaign at the bottom of the Group One Super 12 table, having lost to England and Sri Lanka prior to their defeat to Australia and seen their other two matches abandoned due to rain. Their defeat also means they will not automatically qualify for the 2024 tournament, as they finished outside the top eight in this edition of the competition.
Watch Rashid’ brutal innings below
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