On Monday, Afghanistan defeated Bangladesh in a low-scoring thriller to secure qualification to the T20 World Cup semi-finals, their first ever. Their victory was marked by wild celebrations including a sprint from Gulbadin Naib, who had apparently been suffering from cramp a short while ago.
Following India's 21-run win over Australia, Afghanistan knew that they had to win this match in order to qualify for the semi-finals. Bangladesh, on the other hand, had to win by 62 runs or the equivalent margin while chasing (within 12.1 overs, as it turned out on the day).
In attempting to chase their target 116 in those 12.1 overs, Bangladesh scored quickly but lost wickets at regular intervals. Despite this, they managed to consistently remain ahead of the Duckworth-Lews-Stern (DLS) par score, meaning that if the rain came down and caused an abandonment, they would win the match but not by enough to qualify themselves, instead sending Afghanistan out and Australia through to the semi-final.
In the eleventh over, this changed dramatically as Rashid Khan dismissed Mahmudullah and Rishad Hossain with the last two balls of the over. The next over saw Noor Ahmad concede just one run off four deliveries, which put Bangladesh two runs behind the par score. With the rain getting heavier, an abandonment at that point would have handed victory to Afghanistan, whereas extras or boundaries off the next ball could once again have put them behind.
With this in mind, Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott was seen asking his players to slow the game down, in hopes that the umpires would take them off the field before another ball could be bowled. At that point, Gulbadin Naib, standing at slip, clutched his left hamstring and hit the deck, in an apparent case of cramp. Many had wondered if it was a deliberate attempt to waste time.
The players were indeed taken off the field in the next couple of seconds, Gulbadin helped by the Afghanistan team physio on his way off. He was replaced on the field after the rain break for a short while by Najibullah Zadran, but returned afterwards to bowl as well.
When Afghanistan sealed the win, Gulbadin could be seen sprinting at full speed, showing no signs of the cramp that had affected him less than an hour ago. Asked about the 'cramp' after the match, captain Rashid Khan downplayed the incident, claiming that it made no massive difference on to the game.
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