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Adelaide [Australia], November 4 (ANI): After their narrow loss to Australia in their ICC T20 World Cup match, the Afghanistan team and its star player Rashid Khan have earned praise from the cricketing fraternity for the fight they put up against the defending champions.

Glenn Maxwell’s unbeaten 54 from 32 deliveries followed by Adam Zampa and Josh Hazlewood’s brilliant spells guided Australia to a four-run victory over Afghanistan in their Super 12 clash of the T20 World Cup 2022 here at Adelaide Oval on Friday.

Chasing 169, Afghanistan were six down at 103 in 14.3 overs but a knock of 48 off 23 balls by Rashid brought the Afghan team extremely close to what could have been their biggest win.

“Love Rashid Khan .. Incredible cricketer .. ICCT20WorldCup2022,” tweeted Michael Vaughan, the former England Ashes-winning skipper.

Former Indian spinner Amit Mishra also heaped praises on Afghanistan and Rashid for their performance.

“Well played Afghanistan, fought till the end. Congratulations to Australia for a good win. But what a fantastic innings by swashbuckling @rashidkhan_19. AUSvsAFG,” tweeted Mishra.

Former Australian cricketer Damien Fleming also praised Afghanistan for their performance despite loss, while noting that Australia will need to rely on Sri Lanka to beat England to qualify further.

“The Aussie have to rely on Sri Lanka beating England now to qualify for finals Afghanistan cricketers played brilliantly. Rashid Khan is such a wholehearted superstar,” tweeted Fleming.

In reply, compatriot and former cricket Mark Waugh questioned why Rashid does not bat in number five of any T20 team, calling him a “seriously dangerous striker”.

“I honestly don’t know why Rashid Khan does not bat in the top 5 in any T20 team. He is a seriously dangerous striker. I don’t think he or the teams he plays for know how good he could be,” tweeted Mark Waugh.

MI Cape Town, the SA20 (South African domestic T20 league team) team that bought Rashid also tweeted, “48 (23), nearly pulling off a victory – Rashid Khan, you absolute beauty! AUSvsAFG T20WorldCup.”With this win, Australia have climbed to the second position in Group 1 points table with seven points and three wins in five games. One of their matches against England was washed out due to which they received a point. They had lost their campaign opener to New Zealand.

On the other hand, Afghanistan have finished their campaign at the bottom of the table, with two points they got due to two washouts. They lost the rest of their three matches.

Chasing a tricky target of 169 runs, Rashid Khan shone with bat and ball for Afghanistan as the player played a gritty unbeaten knock of 48 off 23 balls, when his side was struggling at 103/6 in 14.3 overs and also bagged one wicket conceding 29 runs, but it was not enough to guide Afghanistan home. Gulbadin Naib played a knock of 39 off 23 while Rahmanullah Gurbaz also contributed as he scored 30 runs in 17 balls. Naib-Gurbaz shared a 59-run stand for the third wicket.

For Australia, Zampa (2/22) and Hazlewood (2/33) bagged two wickets each respectively.

Earlier, Glenn Maxwell led Australia to 168/8 in 20 overs while smashing 54 runs in 32 balls. Mitchell Marsh performed admirably until his innings were cut short and he left the game after scoring 45 runs. Before Marcus Stoinis was dismissed by Rashid Khan after scoring 21 runs,Maxwell and Stoinis appeared to be working well together, putting a 53-run stand for the fifth wicket.

Earlier, after Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi won the toss and decided to bowl first, Cameron Green, David Warner, and Steve Smith each lost their wickets during the powerplay. For Afghanistan Naveen-ul-Haq bagged three while Fazalhaq Farooqi scalped two wickets.Maxwell was given the ‘Man of the Match’ award for his half-century.

Brief Score: Australia: 168/8 (Glenn Maxwell 54, Mitchell Marsh 45; Naveen-ul-Haq 3-21) vs Afghanistan: 164/7 (Rashid Khan 48, Gulbadin Naib 39; Adam Zampa 2-22). (ANI)