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HAS RASHID TRAPPED STOINIS LBW WHEN REVERSING? He’s given out on the field – it looks like he’s in a lot of trouble. But he has to send it upstairs. Oh dear…
16th over: Australia 81-5 (Maxwell 20, Stoinis 1) Target 292. As I said before, Maxwell knows Mujeeb well, and it shows with the confidence he plays him over midwicket then through extra cover – two boundaries, in a row, both hammered. These two have it in them to put a lot of pressure back on Afghanistan very quickly.
15th over: Australia 73-5 (Maxwell 12, Stoinis 1) Target 292. A big wrong’un from Rashid to finish his first, which Stoinis knows very little about – a great start from the little champion. Maxwell and Stoinis aren’t in the team for that’s the job now. Also, a note for Australia’s Net Run Rate. The only way they can miss the semi-finals is if they lose both games and have their NRR destroyed in the process.
NOT OUT! Ever so close to that outside edge but not quite. On to ball-tracking, as the ball did hit the back pad, which is the noise they were excited about… and it’s umpire’s call on contact with the stumps! So close x 2 – Stoinis survives, juuuust.
HAS RASHID KHAN GOT STOINIS CAUGHT BEHIND? Upstairs we go! They’re burned one review on the hat-trick ball earlier so this is not without risk but they’ve backed in their No1 bowler, halfway through his first over. This is a huge moment.
WICKET! Labuschagne run out Rahmat 14 (28) Australia 69-5It is close but the bat has been slid in on the roof side and thus, the toe of the blade is still in the air when the ball hits the stumps! Hooley dooley, they’re in a world of pain now the Aussies. Maxwell called him through for one to midwicket but a brief moment of indecision has been his undoing with Rahmat spot on with the throw. As Ponting says on TV, the call from Maxwell was immediate, so that’s on Marnus.
HAS RAHMAT RUN LABUSCHAGNE OUT? This will be close!
14th over: Australia 69-4 (Labuschagne 14, Maxwell 11) Target 292. Mujeeb to Marnus. For different reasons, two of the more interesting players in the game. Nothing given from either competitor here; a maiden complete. Labuschagne has pulled one of these wins off before, against South Africa a couple of months ago when he was drafted into the squad. But on that occasion, they were hunting 230-odd not 292 and the required rate is up at 6.2, which’ll take some getting.
13th over: Australia 69-4 (Labuschagne 14, Maxwell 11) Target 292. Maxwell clips Azmat away for four; his first boundary. Eight off it. Fascinating to see how the Victorian plays this. How long until he pushes back? He doesn’t have to, and doesn’t need to either – he has the game to drag it out deep if necessary.
“Hello Adam.” Good afternoon, Krishnamorthy V. “Imagine this scenario. Afghanistan qualifies in the top 4, knocks out India in the semis, and wins the WC after humiliating SA in the final. Will be a bigger upset than the 1983 Kapil’s devils.”
It would be, by some way, the biggest surprise in the history of international cricket. But’s filtering it through the lens of where they’ve been and perhaps where they were coming into this tournament. From here, that’s just four wins away. Dream.
“Hi Adam.” Young Abhijato! Lovely to hear from you. “I hope you’re doing well — it’s been a while! My semester has chugged along and entered its last month of classes too soon, just like this World Cup and its last week of group stage matches. I know people have said this before, but it bears repeating: the stolidity of the Afghans has been remarkable throughout this encounter. In this match as well as their other four victories in the tournament, at no stage have they looked too rushed. The dominance and calm in all their victories so far — potentially including this one — speaks to their meteoric rise. It was more visible in attitude than in results for the past couple of years, but now, they’re bearing the fruit of their success at the biggest stage. Hoping to see them in the semis.”
The best compliment you can pay Afghanistan is that, with six games to go in this long group stage, they still in control of their own destiny. Get this done against Australia, beat South Africa and make the final four. What a story that would be.
12th over: Australia 61-4 (Labuschagne 13, Maxwell 4) Target 292. Mujeeb replaces Naveen, who was brilliant. With the ball still hard enough, he’s going to remain a handful. But as it was with Warner earlier, in Maxwell he has an adversary who knows his weapons well. Four singles and a quiet over before drinks suits Australia.
11th over: Australia 57-4 (Labuschagne 11, Maxwell 2) Target 292. Atherton, Ponting and Watson take over on comms – lovely, soothing, normal. Can Australia tap into that and settle things down in the middle? A pulled boundary off danger man Azmat will help with that, Labuschagne into position early. He edged a ball earlier in the over, which didn’t quite make it to the cordon, but with soft hands that’s fine.
In 11 years of covering Mathews, never heard him so fired up.
Man’s gonna start a war (that Sri Lanka will have to take a loan from Bangladesh to pay for). t.co/t61knhDSDe
— Andrew Fidel Fernando (@afidelf) November 7, 2023 10th over: Australia 52-4 (Labuschagne 6, Maxwell 2) Target 292. Alright, Naveen bowling his fifth off the top, which stands to reason given the way they have the ball has talked in this power play. After three probing dots to Labuschagne, who needs to bat for 30 overs and knows how to do just that, they call for the hammer to smash the surface down where the bowler is landing. Oooh, after the delay some more needle, this time because Rashid was moving sideways when the bowler was running in – he gets told off. A single to third man is their lot. Power play complete.
Meanwhile, it’s getting a bit ugly in the England camp, reports Ali Martin from Pune.
9th over: Australia 51-4 (Labuschagne 5, Maxwell 2) Target 292. Right, do we dare breathe? Maxwell has a very different role to play tonight and is off the mark with a couple out through mid-off, with that angled bat shot he plays so well. What an over. What an hour. Azmatullah is a superstar in the making, believe me on this.
Afghanistan losing to Bangladesh was the biggest upset in World Cup history.
— Cameron Ponsonby (@cameronponsonby) November 7, 2023 HE’S HIT IT! NOT OUT! Had it been pad, as they/we thought, it was gone. And how did it not make it through to the gloves of the wicketkeeper? SCENES.
IS IT A HAT-TRICK? IS MAXWELL LBW?! Upstairs we go! I reckon it’s out!!!!
WICKET! Inglis c Ibrahim Zadran b Azmat 0 (1) Australia 49-4AZMATULLAH!!!!!! GO YOU GOOD THING!!!! In the channel to Inglis first ball, he has a little flirt and steers into the hands of the man who made Afghanistan’s first World Cup ton only a couple of hours ago, Ibbi Z making no mistake at slip. On a hat-trick!
WICKET! Warner b Azmat 18 (29) Australia 49-3Azmatullah knocks him over! A fine maiden to Warner has surely contributed to this rash shot, trying to lift him over midwicket but not getting in the same postcode of a ball that’s ankling back at his middle stump, which it crashes into. What a celebration from the Afghanistan fielders – there’s something special brewing!
8th over: Australia 49-2 (Warner 18, Labuschagne 5) Target 292. Back to Naveen, who the Australians look to be playing out here rather than attacking – a smart play on the basis of what we’ve seen so far. After exchanging singles, Labuschagne is happy enough leaving him alone. But when he overpitches later on, the Queenslander doesn’t miss out, stroking a lovely off-drive for four. Good cricket.
7th over: Australia 43-2 (Warner 17, Labuschagne 0) Target 292. Ohhhh Azmat! That’s unplayable, cutting Warner in half from around the wicket, going over the leg stump by no more than a centimetre. It’s a superb over, never giving the veteran a chance to free his arms, let alone score. “And they’re letting him know about it too,” says Ian Smith. How far this Afghanistan team have come since 2015 when Australia hit their highest-ever World Cup score as they sharpened up for their semi-final. Meanwhile, Haydos is on commentary and it’s just a case of holding on tight.
6th over: Australia 43-2 (Warner 17, Labuschagne 0) Target 292. Labuschagne is the new man and gets a similar delivery to Marsh right away! He’s lucky it kissed the inside edge on the way through otherwise he’s heading back as well. Winviz has Afghanistan up at 61% now – sounds right to me. By the way, why not Smith at No4 here? Because he’s missing today after a bout of vertigo at training yesterday.
I made an error earlier repeating an error I heard somewhere earlier today – technically, Australia haven’t yet qualified for the semis. Don’t get me wrong, they’d need to get hammered here and by Bangladesh to miss out on NRR, but still.
WICKET! Marsh lbw b Naveen 24 (11) Austalia 43-2Outstanding stuff! Naveen, who has been shaping the ball away from the left-handers, goes wide on the crease to Marsh as a result of the big West Australian clouting him back past his boots to begin then over then over square leg for six. The result is a nasty off-cutter, jagging past the inside edge and into the front pad. Given out on the field, Australia’s No3 doesn’t seriously consider a review. Game on!
5th over: Australia 33-1 (Warner 17, Marsh 14) Target 292. My guy Azmat gets an early go. I say my guy – Geoff Lemon and I have been stanning him throughout the tournament for both his enterprising batting and golden arm in the middle overs. And it nearly gets him a freakish wicket here too, Marsh trying to whip across the line the ball sailed and sailed and off the back of the bat for… SIX! Gosh, how’s that gone the journey rather than into the hands of deep third? He makes the most of the fortune straight away, cover driving the response for four – that’s Marsh at his best.
Ohh, now we get a look at a tasty chat after the last over with Warner and his old Sunrisers Hyderabad teammate Rashid Khan – there’s no way to lipread but they’re not holding back. “This says a bit about their growth as a team,” says Ponting. “Any time the bowlers send down a good ball, they are getting in and letting them know.” Good point – when these teams played in Bristol in 2019 it proved a nice, gentle start to the group stage for Australia. It couldn’t feel any different to that right now.
4th over: Australia 19-1 (Warner 15, Marsh 3) Target 292. Naveen has it on a string here, beating Warner with an absolute beauty from around the wicket: angled in, full enough, swinging away late, too good for the edge. Ricky Ponting on telly ponders why Australia’s quicks haven’t been able to generate that kind of movement early too often in the group stage, adding that he would consider chucking the ball to Stoinis early on as a traditional swinger. As ever, whenever Ricky speaks it is worth paying attention. Excellent bowling – no easy runs here.
3rd over: Australia 16-1 (Warner 13, Marsh 3) Target 292. Mujeeb is an expert at keeping the stumps in play early on, whether that’s with his conventional off-break, the unconventional change-up flicked from the front of the hand, or his pacy googly. But Warner played has played so much against him on the T20 circuit he’s happy on the front foot when the spinner overpitches, driving through cover – a third boundary. He tries to go again from the final ball, on the sweep, but misses it.
2nd over: Australia 9-1 (Warner 8, Marsh 1) Target 292. Marsh, back in the country and into the XI after going home to see his grandfather before passing away, has a job to do here. He’s off the mark first ball, a yorker dug away for one. Warner’s turn to face the music and he’s dropped in the gully! Late movement, forward he strode, a thick edge that just carries to Rahmat who just gets a hand to it… but it doesn’t stick. They are up and about. But Warner keeps his cool, closing out the eventful over with a second boundary past point, timed through the gap to the rope.
WICKET! Head c Alikhil b Naveen 0 (2). Australia 4-1A big breakthrough for Afghanistan! Naveen in the channel outside the off stump from around the wicket to the left-hander – he’s always having a dash. But with some nice movement through the air, he plays the wrong line and edges behind.
1st over: Australia 3-0 (Warner 4, Head 0) Target 292. Little Davey W is away right away carving Mujeeb in front of point for four – just about his favourite shot in the second portion of his massive international career. He survives an lbw shout later in the over – it was sliding down leg anyway; no review – and no further runs come.
“Adam.” John Starbuck, hello. “Will the OBO team be running a table of the umpires’ bloopers at this WC? Or you could solicit opinions from OBO readers, preferably during the final game, eh? At the very least, such activity ought to prompt the ECB and ICC into looking at these decisions and pronouncing on them, with No Change not being an option.”
I’m of the Postecoglou school in terms of wanting officials treated with greater respect for the good of the game at large – moaning after the fact is surely never worse than it is now – and want to see technology used to help them. Generally speaking, along the lines of what I said before when it comes to specialisation.
Alright, the players are back on the field! Australia have already qualified for the semi-finals so the 292 required is the perfect challenge for their batting group: a record World Cup chase (for them), and the highest ever to win after dark at Mumbai. For that task, Travis Head and David Warner are racing to the middle. Mubeej, the genius Afghan spinner and powerplay specialist, has the ball. PLAY!
Adam Collins
Nicely summed up, JP. G’day all. Specialist TV umpires – they’re going to have to happen soon. It’s Chris Gaffaney today with Radhid/Stoinis, but it was Ashan Raza earlier in the tournament and it’ll be someone else next week. Brilliant umps, one and all, but the application of close-ups and audio waves isn’t the same gig.
I know this is a topic that gets people angry, and I appreciate that I’m investing a lot in the VAR/bunker model, but I sincerely believe that a team of audio-visual specialists, who work on every TV game between them, will end up landing at a happier, more consistent place for players and spectators, while saving the blushes of the those in the middle, who can crack on doing what’s taken them to the top.
Jonathan Howcroft
What an afternoon for Afghanistan. Their highest score in world cup history. Their first centurion in world cup history. And a defendable total that gives them a fighting chance of one of the all-time upsets in the history of the sport – and possibly even passage to the semi-finals.
It was all built off the back of the patience of Ibrahim Zadran who stroked 129 runs from 143 balls, with his presence ensuring his side always had someone to bat around. Rahmanullah Gurbaz hit a brisk 25 at the top, then after Rahmat Shah (30) and Hashmatullah Shahidi (26) failed to kick on, the next three batters all scored at better than a run-a-ball. Azmatullah Omarzai (22) set the tone. Mohammad Nabi’s 12 included a six, and then Rashid Khan’s violent 18-ball 35 saw his side to the interval with all the momentum.
On a decent batting pitch Australia’s bowling and fielding kept the score in check for 45 overs, until the late assault. Josh Hazlewood (2/39) was the pick, with Mitchell Starc (1/70) again out of sorts.
After winning the toss Afghanistan batted first in part to maximise the conditions for their four spinners. There was also the benefit of not having to field in ferocious heat. After an energy sapping 50 overs in the Mumbai haze, Australia must now control a chase facing an attack stuffed with the kind of bowlers they are prone to struggle against.
A fascinating chase is in store. Adam Collins will bring you all the action.
Australia need 292 to winGame on in Mumbai.
50th over: Afghanistan 291-5 (Zadran 129, Rashid 35) Starc begins an over with a full toss to Rashid again – and this time it goes for runs – four of them, edged over short third. Then the best bowler in modern ODI cricket is smacked back over his head for six! Rashid is a fighter. SIX MORE! Oh boy. Rashid clears his front leg, then crouches, then somehow manipulates a forehand smash of a stroke over square leg!
Incredible finish for Afghanistan. They close their 50 overs on 291 – their highest world cup score.
49th over: Afghanistan 275-5 (Zadran 129, Rashid 19) Following those couple of sixes and that reviewed catch, there’s suddenly some tension out there in Mumbai. Cummins reads the room and brings himself on, bowling a superb mixture of short balls and cutters for three deliveries to keep Afghanistan to just a single. Zadran then gambles on ball four, picks the slower ball and launches it over cow corner for six! He follows that up with a classic square drive for four more! Brilliant batting. 14 off the penultimate over. Afghanistan have something for their spinners to bowl to.
48th over: Afghanistan 261-5 (Zadran 117, Rashid 18) Starc gets away with a full toss to Rashid. Rashid gets away with bunting that full toss short of Head at long-off. It’s a rotation of strike that works gloriously as Zadran helps a leg-stump half volley into the grandstand with sumptuous timing. Rashid gets himself back in the action, whereupon he doesn’t aim strokes at the ball, he tries to obliterate it from existence. The first bash is fielded well in the ring at cover. The second flies off a thick edge all the way to the offside sweeper, Stoinis, who runs in, dives forward, and takes a beautiful catch. Of course it is sent upstairs and replayed to death, each angle and slo-mo making it look less out. Umpire Gaffaney then adopts the position of a prosecutor trying to find the “not out” frame. Eventually the decision is not out. What a mess.
47th over: Afghanistan 252-5 (Zadran 110, Rashid 16) Maxwell comes on to bowl so Rashid Khan removes his helmet and makes no secret of his intent to slog to leg. “I don’t like the look of that,” says Ricky Ponting as the ball is mullered over midwicket. Rashid then feints to do the same again but out-Maxwells Maxwell, somehow getting enough bat on a ball fired outside off from around the wicket to clear the cover ring and skip away for four.
Everything Afghanistan have done so far has been predicated on a late-innings assault. And here it is!
46th over: Afghanistan 236-5 (Zadran 109, Rashid 2) Nine runs and the wicket from the over. Afghanistan are close to posting something reasonable.
WICKET! Nabi b Hazlewood 12 (Afghanistan 233-5)Hooray! Six more for Afghanistan! This time it’s Nabi, pulling Hazlewood with a sweetly timed swipe.
Boooooo! Then he’s bowled neck and crop swinging all over a straight one.
45th over: Afghanistan 227-4 (Zadran 108, Nabi 6) Freed from the pressure of reaching his ton, Zadran gives himself room and deposits Zampa over long-on. The leg-spinner’s final over goes for 11 all-up and he ends with 1/58 from his 10.
100 to Ibrahim Zadran! (131 balls)44th over: Afghanistan 216-4 (Zadran 101, Nabi 2) Back to Hazlewood from the pacer end and he hits his customary line and length, which makes Zadran’s battle to reach his century torturous. On 99 he faces two dots, then legs it after dabbing into the covers. A direct hit and he’s in despair. But the shy misses and it’s jubilation for Afghanistan’s first world cup centurion! What a moment in the country’s sporting history.
Afghanistan’s Ibrahim Zadran celebrates after reaching his century. Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters43rd over: Afghanistan 212-4 (Zadran 98, Nabi 1) A wicket and just three runs from Zampa’s ninth over. A record-equalling sixth three-wicket haul in a row looks unlikely, but he’s done a good job again.
“I’m so in love with Afghanistan,” beams Dean Kinsella. “All the (mostly Australian) tv commentary is that the scoring is too slow. I don’t see it like that. Plenty of wickets left, a couple of monster overs, 300 is in reach.”
WICKET! Azmat c Maxwell b Zampa 22 (Afghanistan 210-4)Azmat continues his late innings assault but he plonks Zampa straight down long-off’s throat, screaming in primal rage as he watches Maxwell hold a simple catch.
42nd over: Afghanistan 209-3 (Zadran 96, Azmat 22) Afghanistan try to maintain their intensity against Cummins but the bowling and fielding is too good. Stoinis in the deep and Labuschagne in the ring both cover themselves in glory as Australia keep the game on their terms.
Back to being timed out, Ewan Glenton has joined in the conversation. “I can imagine someone in Mathews’ position making a hurried, pressured decision like ‘Oh dear, something’s wrong with my helmet but I can’t be timed out, we might lose or I might lose my place in the team, so I’ll just have to face the next ball without it’. If that happens and the batter gets injured of killed then they’ll have to change the rule, adding something like ‘except in the case of safety equipment malfunction’. That probably won’t happen, so they can leave it for now and just worry about it if it does happen, as is usually the case with these things.” Absolutely. It’s also the kind of thing my brain locates at 3am the night before a game. Then I wake up in a cold sweat checking my kit bag for my box, gloves, etc…
41st over: Afghanistan 204-3 (Zadran 92, Azmat 21) Can Afghanistan accelerate in this final 10-over powerplay? Oooh, maybe. Azmat smacks his second six of the day, launching Zampa back over his head with a crisp blow. There are still plenty of dots around that shot, but the 200 is now up, with 300 a not unreasonable target with so many wickets in hand.
40th over: Afghanistan 195-3 (Zadran 90, Azmat 14) Cummins decides he wants a piece of the action and his third delivery creates some rare incident after it ricochets off Azmat’s helmet and away for four leg-byes. The mandatory concussion check follows but the batter is ok. He proves it by stepping to leg and clawing a ball from outside off through wide midwicket for a very scruffy but effective boundary. The over eventually costs those four extras plus seven off the bat, the last of which was a ramp down to third from Zadran that almost reaches Starc on the full.