Twitter Reactions: Australia survive Rashid Khan's late onslaught to keep semi final hopes alive

Glenn Maxwell was named the player of the match for his vital half-century in the first innings.

By Chaitanya Prakash

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Australian Team
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Australian Team. (Photo Source: Disney+Hotstar)

Australia survived an onslaught from the Afghanistan batters to register a narrow win at the Adelaide Oval, keeping them in the hunt for a semi-final spot. The defending champions put up a decent total of 168 runs after a glittering half-century from the hard-hitting Glenn Maxwell. A win for Sri Lanka against England in the last Super 12 match of the group will ensure Australia's route to the semi final of the T20 World Cup.

The Afghanistan chase was off to a rocky start after Usman Ghani was sent back cheaply in the third over after a forgetful stay at the crease. But his stylish opening partner Rahmanullah Gurbaz played a couple of handsome shots to provide the impetus to the innings. However, the Aussie bowlers struck back into the game after his dismissal in the final over of the powerplay.

Australia were on top of things and were hoping to restrict the Asian side to below 106 runs to topple England's net run rate. Unfortunately for the defending champions, Gulbadin Naib and Ibrahim Zadran dashed their hopes with a combative 59-run stand for the third wicket.

Naib was looking increasingly dangerous and was threatening to take the game away from the Aussies before an inspired bit of fielding effort from Glenn Maxwell sent him packing. The Afghanistani middle order collapsed like a deck of cards as their chase derailed in the space of a dozen deliveries. However, the entertaining Rashid Khan played a couple of sumptuous shots to give his side an outside chance in the dying stages of the match.

Afghanistan bowlers pulled things back at the death after Maxwell's assault

Earlier in the crucial fixture, the defending champions were put into bat first after Mohammad Nabi called it right at the toss. The home side got off the blocks in a jiffy before the incoming Cameron Green, who replaced the injured Aaron Finch in the eleven, was dismissed cheaply in the third over. 

Green's veteran opening partner David Warner was looking in great touch before succumbing to a switch hit in the last over of the field restriction. Former Australian skipper Steve Smith who was drafted into the team ahead of Tim David did not make much of an impact on his return and was trapped in front in the same over.

Last year's player of the finale, Mitchell Marsh finally got going in this year's edition after he was dropped early in his innings. Marsh was dismissed for a quickfire 45 off 30 deliveries as Australia started to switch gears in hopes of boosting their net run rate. That is when the dangerous hard-hitting pair of Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis threatened to take Australia beyond the 200-run mark with their trailblazing partnership.

However, the Afghan bowlers wrestled back the momentum with some disciplined bowling at the death as Australia fell well short of their desired total and had to settle with 168 runs on the board. Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen-ul-Haq were exceptional with the ball for the Asian outfit with the latter scalping a memorable three-for.

Here is how Twitter reacted to Australia's narrow victory against Afghanistan:

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T20 World Cup 2024AfghanistanAustraliaAdam ZampaGlenn Maxwell