Watch: Epic fight erupts between Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Marcus Stoinis; Afghan star responds to all-rounder's send-off in style

Afghanistan has grabbed worldwide headlines after defeating Australia in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. During the match, Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis and Afghanistan wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz had a verbal fight that became the highlight of the match. 

Afghanistan crushed Australia by 21 runs in match 48 of T20 WC 2024 in what can be dubbed as the biggest upset for the Australian team in the history of T20 World Cups. Afghanistan successfully defended their total in the 2nd innings as Australia remained short of 21 runs for victory. 

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WATCH: Marcus Stoinis vs Rahmanullah Gurbaz on-field fight 

During the match, Marcus Stoinis and Rahmanullah Gurbaz had a verbal as well as gestural fight. In the 1st innings, Marcus Stoinis dismissed Gurbaz, who slammed the match-winning knock of 60. After dismissing him, he gestured an aggressive send-off. 

Later in the 2nd innings, Gurbaz made some comments to Stoinis when the latter came to bat. The duo also had a heated conversation over the incident. Later, Gulbadin Naib dismissed Stonis and the catch was taken by none other than wicketkeeper Gurbaz. 

Just after taking his catch, Gurbaz celebrated his wicket and responded with an equally aggressive send-off. ICC also shared the video of Marcus Stoinis vs Rahmanullah Gurbaz on their official Instagram account. Have a look at the video below. 

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Afghanistan crush Australia by 21 runs 

Meanwhile, Afghanistan defeated Australia by 21 runs in the match. Batting first, Afghanistan piled up 148-6 in 1st innings. Openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran slammed stunning fifties of 60 and 51 respectively. 

However, the rest batters in line could not follow up the batting pace. Karim Janat and Mohammad Nabi were the next top scorers with 13 and 10 respectively as Pat Cummins (3) and Adam Zampa (2) took crucial wickets in the second half. 

However, Afghanistan made a stunning comeback in the bowling to defend their total. They bundled out Travis Head and David Warner for 0 and 3. Glenn Maxwell was the star batter with his 59 runs but he could not repeat his heroics of ICC ODI World Cup 2023. 

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Australia lost seven batters for single digits 

Australia lost 7 batters for single digits to get bowled out for 127 in the end in the final over. Gulbadin Naib, who dismissed Marcus Stoinis, bowled a fabulous spell with his 4-wicket haul. Naveen-ul-Haq picked 3 scalps. Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, and Rashid Khan got 1 wicket each. 

Gulbadin Naib won the Player of the Match award for his fabulous bowling show. Afghanistan will next square off with Bangladesh in their final game of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. The match takes place at Arnos Vale Ground in Kingstown, St Vincent. 

Australia will face India in their final match of the Super 8 round of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. They need a victory at any cost to be able to reach the semi-finals.