Mitchell Marsh fires a massive warning to Rohit Sharma and India after losing to Afghanistan
Australia captain Mitchell Marsh has fired a massive warning to India after the team's shocking defeat at the hands of Afghanistan in the Super 8 match played in Kingstown, St. Vincent. The match was played on a slow pitch which the Afghan bowlers used extremely well to open up the group.
With Afghanistan's win, Australia have a do-or-die situation in their last Super 8 match against India, to be played on June 24 in St. Lucia. If Australia loses that match and Afghanistan wins against Bangladesh, Afghanistan will qualify for the semifinals along with India from Group 1.
Even if Australia wins against India, Afghanistan will have a chance to qualify for the semifinals. If Australia wins by 1 run, Afghanistan will need to beat Bangladesh by a margin of 36 runs or more to get ahead of Australia in the net run rate and qualify.
Meanwhile, if Australia wins a run-chase off the last ball, Afghanistan needs to win inside 15.4 overs against Bangladesh to get ahead of Australia in the points table.
Mitchell Marsh fires a massive warning to Rohit Sharma and India
During the post-match presentation after Australia's defeat to Afghanistan, Australian skipper Mitchell Marsh lauded their opponents for playing an excellent game of cricket. Marsh also mentioned that it was just an off-day for his side and they will be back next game.
"They got 20 too many. And to be honest they played a really good game of cricket. We were outplayed tonight. (On not batting first, based on ground stats) We did think about it. A lot of teams have bowled first at this World Cup to get an idea of the surface."
"Don't think we lost at the toss. It was an off-night for us in the field, and we own that. We'll be back next game. It wasn't an easy wicket but both teams played on this surface," Marsh said.
When asked about the next game against tournament favorites India, Marsh stated that the situation is clear for them and they just need to win the match.
"First and foremost it becomes clear for us. We need to win and no better team to do it against. Full credit to Afghanistan for tonight and we move on quickly," the allrounder added.
Afghanistan shocks Australia, creates history
Talking about the match, Afghanistan had a difficult start after being put into bat first. But the openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran took their time and built a solid foundation. Gurbaz and Zadran put up an opening partnership of 118 runs.
But Afghanistan's middle order couldn't capitalize as Australia's bowlers came back strongly to reduce Afghanistan to 148-6. Chasing a modest target to win, Afghanistan started aggressively and reduced Australia to 32-3 at one stage.
Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis tried to resurrect the innings but Stoinis was dismissed by Gulbadin Naib. Maxwell threatened to take the game away from Afghanistan like he has previously done as well.
But his dismissal for 59 off 41 balls almost ended Australia's hopes. Afghanistan's fielding was excellent on the day as they bundled out Australia for just 127 runs to ensure their team's historic win.
Tagged:
ICC T20 World Cup Australia National Cricket Team Afghanistan National Cricket Team Mitchell Marsh Rohit Sharma India National Cricket Team IND vs AUS India vs Australia Afghanistan vs Australia AFG vs AUS