Live Report - Afghanistan hope to enter historic first semi-final

A lot riding for all of Australia, Afghanistan and Bangladesh on this. Add rain to the mix, none of them are sitting easy.

Bangladesh need to chase this down in 12.1 overs, can take it to 12.3 if they end up scoring 119 and up to 12.5 if they can hit a six after getting to 115 and score 121. The rain was quite heavy, and a washout will mean Afghanistan, with one more point in their kitty, will go through.

In case it comes down to a five-over shootout - which at this stage is very far - then Bangladesh will have no chance of going through.

11m ago

3 Times Mustafizur Rahman has dismissed Rashid Khan in all T20s

Mustafizur bowled four balls to Rashid in the penultimate over. Rashid did all he could - moved to the off side to explore leg, moved to leg to give himself room - but couldn't get bat to it.

27m ago

Bangladesh finally managed to see the back of Gurbaz, for 43 off 55 balls featuring only 13 attacking attempts. He looked to go inside out over cover with the spin but found sweeper cover. Two balls later, Sarkar pulled off a stunning catch running in from deep cover, diving forward full-length almost near the 30m circle. Naib looked to go big this time but only ended up skying the slice.

AFG 93 for 4 after 17

36m ago

13 runs came off the 14th over, the most expensive one of the innings so far. Rishad almost had another wicket, if not for the wind. Omarzai ended up slicing one off the first ball towards cover. But because of the breeze blowing across, it did not carry to sweeper cover, who sprinted in. And then Gurbaz managed to cut one through backward point and short third before nailing the sweep off the final ball.

On the first ball of the next over, Shakib couldn't time his jump to dismiss Omarzai, who pushed one hard back at him, caught and bowled.

AFG 76 for 1 in 14.1 overs

46m ago

The surface was meant to slow down. And it is also aiding some seam and swing. Bangladesh have managed to snatch a chance to slow Afghanistan down. After Rishad struck to remove Zadran, Taskin bowled a maiden over to Gurbaz. And then Shakib bowled a tight over to give away just three singles to Gurbaz and Omarzai.

AFG 62 for 1 after 13 overs

Rishad Hossain, ladies and gents. Immediately found some grip and turn in his first over. Some bounce, too, that beat Zadran's bat in his first over.

In his second over, the 11th of the innings, Rishad strikes. He tosses one up, and this time, with time slowly ticking by, Zadran feels the need to take the aerial route. Looks to go inside out over covers. But because of the bounce, Zadran gets it a tad higher on the bat despite the ball pitching further than good length. Add to it that he hit it against the breeze. It meant Tanzim had enough time to run around from long-off and pouch it.

AFG 59 for 1 in 10.4 overs

Ten-over mark. Afghanistan steady again, without loss again.

Afghanistan's ten-over scores in T20 World Cup 2024:

58 for 0 tonight vs Bangladesh (match result: awaited) 64 for 0 vs Australia (won) 66 for 3 vs india (lost) 66 for 5 vs West Indies (lost) 59 for 3 vs PNG (won) 55 for 0 vs New Zealand (won) 102 for 0 vs Uganda (won)

7.86 Afghanistan's run rate in overs 11 to 20, eighth-best among 20 teams in this competition

Gurbaz now has the most runs for Afghanistan in T20 World Cups, going past Mohammad Shahzad. After a sedate powerplay which they finished 27 for 0, Gurbaz led the change in gears for Afghanistan.

Against Shakib, he danced down to smack him straight into the sightscreen for the first six of the match. 20 runs have come off the two overs immediately following the powerplay.

AFG 47 for 0 in 8 overs

430 Aggregate of Gurbaz and Zadran as an opening pair, the most by a pair in a single edition of a men's T20 World Cup

True to pattern, Gurbaz and Zadran have not been explosive at the start. They have run the singles well, but there have been a lot of play and misses, with both Tanzim Hasan and Taskin Ahmed getting enough swing with the new ball.

Shakib Al Hasan almost did it after Zadran crashed one off the back foot straight to short cover. However, Towhid Hridoy leapt and could not hang on.

AFG 23 for 0 after 5 overs

1h ago

9.57 Rahmanullah Gurbaz's batting average in T20Is vs Bangladesh before today. Only 67 runs in seven matches, at a strike rate of 97.10

There is a daylight between Afghanistan's Rahmanullah Gurbaz-Ibrahim Zadran and the others. They have three century stands in this competition alone, which is more than any other pair for any wicket in a series in men's T20I cricket. On the outset, their methods have been quite simple.

Take your time. Take stock of the conditions. Go steady but don't throw away your wicket. And then let the others capitalise. In each of their three hundred-run partnerships, Afghanistan's ten-over scores were 102 for 0 vs Uganda, 55 for 0 vs New Zealand and 64 for 0 vs Australia. And on each of those occasions, the middle order couldn't contribute much with Afghanistan sliding to 29 for 5, 55 for 6 and 30 for 6.

Can Bangladesh separate the opening pair early?

2h ago

Looking at the surface and conditions, Rashid Khan says Afghanistan want to bat first. They have resisted temptation to bring in an experienced Najibullah Zadran, instead persisting with the inexperienced Nangeyalia Kharote, who bowls left-arm spin and can bat, too.

Najmul Hossain Shanto said that Bangladesh wanted to bowl first anyway. So both teams happy. They have brought back Taskin Ahmed and Soumya Sarkar instead of Jaker Ali and Mahedi Hasan.

Pommie Mbangwa looks at the playing surface and reckons it could get harder to bat as the game goes on. He opines that the key batting first would be not to aim too high. Afghanistan have been smart this tournament batting first, with their openers often setting the tone. And Bangladesh's batting has massively underperformed in this T20 World Cup.

Afghanistan: 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Ibrahim Zadran, 3 Azmatullah Omarzai, 4 Karim Janat, 5 Rashid Khan (capt), 6 Mohammad Nabi, 7 Gulbadin Naib, 8 Nangeyalia Kharote, 9 Noor Ahmad, 10 Naveen-ul-Haq, 11 Fazalhaq Farooqi

Bangladesh: 1 Tanzid Hasan, 2 Litton Das (wk), 3 Najmul Hosain Shanto (capt), 4 Towhid Hridoy, 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Soumya Sarkar, 8 Rishad Hossain, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Tanzim Hasan, 11 Mustafizur Rahman

The T20 World Cup 2024 is almost near the end. This is the final Super Eight game, with the four semi-finalist yet to be confirmed. Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Australia all will be on tenterhooks for the next few hours.

Only two points separate Afghanistan and Bangladesh. But the two teams have played contrasting styles of cricket. Afghanistan have roared and how, stunning Australia in their previous outing. Bangladesh's batting has massively underperformed and they were blown away in their two games. Both teams are familiar opponents with Bangladesh winning the bilateral T20I series against Afghanistan last July.

Just a win will be enough for Afghanistan to create history and march into the semi-final. A loss will almost certainly knock them out and Australia, thanks to their better net run rate, will proceed. All to play for, then.