Bangladesh and Afghanistan played out a thriller in the final Super Eights match of the 2024 T20 World Cup, with the latter securing an eight-run win to qualify for the tournament's semi-final for the first-ever time. But you may have missed how the winning moment unfolded in St. Vincent.
Ahead of the match, Afghanistan knew a win would be enough for them to qualify for the semifinals, whereas Bangladesh needed to win by at least 62 runs or chase down the target between 12 and 14 overs. Taking this into account, Afghan captain Rashid Khan elected to bat, knowing Bangladesh's subsequent attempt to chase quickly would result in wicket-taking opportunities emerging for his side.
They got off to a steady, if sedate, start as openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran scored 27 in the powerplay. But after 58-0 in 10 overs, Bangladesh began to claw back, striking regularly to leave Afghanistan 93-5 in the 18th over. Thereafter, Rashid Khan hit three sixes to lift them to 115-5, a difficult chase for Bangladesh to complete in 12.1 overs on a tricky wicket.
To their credit, Bangladesh came out with an aggressive approach but lost three early wickets, reaching 46-3 at the end of the powerplay. Opener Litton Das stayed in at one end as they attempted to up the ante. But after nine overs, it appeared as though they had abandoned any hopes of winning in 12.1 overs, instead choosing to chase the target down inside the full 20 overs.
Rashid then struck twice in two balls to leave Bangladesh 80-7 in 11 overs. Tanzim Hasan Sakib stuck around for a while before departing in the 15th over off Gulbadin Naib, who had apparently made a miraculous recovery after going down with cramps in the 12th over, just as rain set in with Afghanistan ahead on DLS.
Naveen-ul-Haq then took the penultimate wicket, getting Taskin Ahmed to chop on to his stumps with 9 runs required from 9 balls. Another short rain delay followed, before the winning moment finally arrived.
How Afghanistan's bouncer bluff unfolded
As the players assumed their positions on the field, waiting for play to resume, Afghanistan bowling consultant Dwayne Bravo had a word with bowling coach Hamid Hassan and fast bowler Fazalhaq Farooqi, as Bangladesh No.11 Mustafizur Rahman prepared to face his first ball. Bravo had worked with Mustafizur at Chennai Super Kings during the recently concluded Indian Premier League.
The coaches appeared to give Farooqi a message to pass on to captain Rashid. Bravo gestured downwards with his hand, imitating a batter fending off a short delivery, suggesting that the plan was to dig the ball into the pitch and bowl short to Mustafizur. Bravo could also be made out to be mouthing the words, 'put in a short leg'.
Read more: Afghanistan are a beautiful juxtaposition of will and might
Farooqi went up to Rashid, motioning the same. As bowler Naveen went back to his mark, he, Rashid, and Ibrahim Zadran were engaged in an animated conversation. Naveen did not appear keen on putting in a short leg, but Afghanistan finally appeared to compromise, settling on a catching fielder midway between short leg and short fine leg, still indicating to the batter that the ball would likely be aimed at his body.
Bowling from round the wicket, Naveen pitching the ball on a length, angling it in towards Mustafizur's pads. Camped on the back foot, Mustafizur did not move his feet at all, instead attempting to just fend off the ball, a fatal error. It crashed into his back pad, and he was given out on field, a decision backed up by the third umpire upon review to spark wild celebrations in the Afghan camp.
Very rarely are television cameras able to pick up player-coach interactions in such detail, but on a historic night like this, the stars seemed to align, throwing the spotlight on a perfectly planned and executed bouncer bluff.
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