In a sense, you felt the cricket gods owed Afghanistan one. In the T20 World Cup of November 2022, Rashid Khan blazed 48 at the end chasing Australia, but a couple of good slower balls saw him fall one boundary short. A year later in the one-day World Cup his team had the champions cold, seven down for 91 with 201 more to win. Problem being that Glenn Maxwell went on to make that many himself in one of the most extraordinary innings ever played. By the final few overs of that mad chase you could see Afghan players not so much wilting as melting into puddles on the grass, stop-motion plasticine men in blue.
Eight months later in the shortest format, they came back for another tilt and prospered, even surviving a test of nerve as Maxwell played another lone-hand marvel. Winning by 21 runs on the island of St Vincent leaves Australia’s T20 World Cup campaign at risk and Afghanistan’s path open to the semi-finals. It will depend on Monday’s coming games when Australia play India and Afghanistan play Bangladesh, but the chance is realistic.
