T20 World Cup 2024: Marsh admits giving away too many runs in AUS vs AFG match
'We got outplayed today. We just need to win, and there's no better team to do it against,' says skipper
Following Australia’s defeat against Afghanistan on Sunday by 21 runs at the Arnos Vale Ground, captain Mitchell Marsh admitted that they allowed the opponents to score more runs than they should have.
"They probably got 20 too many. Lot of teams have bowled first in this tournament. Don't think it was won or lost at the toss. We had an off-night on the field. Wasn't the easiest of wickets, but both teams played on it. As I said, we got outplayed today. We just need to win, and there's no better team to do it against," Marsh said during the post-match press conference.
Australia’s Glenn Maxwell was the only player to score 59 of 41 deliveries while the rest were not even able to score 15 runs.
On the other hand, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran played a sensational game, with the former scoring 60 runs of 49 balls and latter making 51 runs of 48 deliveries. Afghanistan made 148 runs for six in the first innings.
Gulbadin Naib bagged four wickets and Naveen-ul-Haq dismissed three players, restricting the Aussies to only scoring 127 all-out within 19.2 overs.
Additionally, Naib was awarded Player of the Match for his game-winning spell against the Marsh-led side. He mentioned that they were able to win because of their hard work.
"We were waiting for a long time. Great moment for me, my nation, and my people. Big achievement for our cricket. Thanks to our fans for supporting our cricket journey. We worked hard for the last two months, and the result is in front of you," Naib said.
"It is a great achievement for Afghanistan cricket; our history isn’t too much, so this is a great achievement. We played great cricket in the last World Cup, and this year, we beat New Zealand in the group stage. Our journey starts now. We have great management, and I’m very fortunate to have this team," he added.
Afghanistan gave a commendable performance in their second Super Eight fixture. The team secured the third spot in Group 1, and to qualify for the next round, they must win their last fixture of the Super Eight against Bangladesh on June 25.
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