Afghanistan opening batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz was reduced to tears after their qualification to the T20 World Cup 2024 semi-finals was confirmed as they beat Bangladesh by 8 runs in Kingstown on Tuesday. In a video emerged on social media, the youngster was seen in dressing room unable to control his ears at Afghanistan's historic achievement.
Gurbaz, who left the field after a bumping ball hit him on his knee, did not return to keep wickets and stayed in the dressing room. However, the right-handed batter was once decent with the bat, top-scoring for Afghanistan with 43 off 55 deliveries to lead them to a fighting total of 115.
Due to multiple rain interruptions, the target came down to 114 in 19 overs, but Bangladesh failed to chase it despite Litton Das' valiant 54.
"We had confidence that these wickets are not high-scoring wickets" - Naveen-ul-Haq
Naveen-ul-Haq, who earned the Player of the Match award for his spell of 3.5-0-26-4, reflected that Afghanistan knew they were in the game due to Bangladesh's willingness to play in high tempo. He stated:
"We have worked so hard over the past few years and we were dreaming and working for this day. I'm lost for words. We always knew that they were going hard in the powerplay to chase the total down in 12.1 overs so we knew we were in the game as long as we kept picking wickets. We had confidence that these wickets are not high-scoring wickets."
Afghanistan will face South Africa in the first semi-final in Tarouba.
