The Afghanistan cricket team succumbed to a heartbreaking nine-wicket defeat at the hands of South Africa in the T20 World Cup 2024 semifinal. It was the first appearance in a knockout match in an ICC tournament for the Afghans, but their inspiring journey ended abruptly after getting bundled out for 56 runs against the South Africans at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba.
In this article, SportsTiger looks at the five lowest totals for the Afghanistan cricket team in T20Is.
5. 90 vs Netherlands, 2013
During the T20 World Cup Qualifier in 2013, Afghanistan were bowled out for just 90 runs at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium with four bowlers picking up two wickets each. In response, the Netherlands didn’t break a sweat in the chase, overhauling the 91-run target with seven wickets in hand and 43 balls to spare, which included a fiery innings of 38 off 15 from the captain Peter Borren.
4. 80 vs South Africa, 2010
In their first appearance in the T20 World Cup in 2010, Afghanistan managed to restrict South Africa to 139/7 after Hamid Hassan picked up three wickets in his spell at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados. In the run chase, the Afghans were in dire straits at 32/8 until Mirwais Ashraf and Hamid Hassan got 20s each, but still, they got dismissed for just 80 after Morne Morkel and Charl Langeveldt picked up seven wickets amongst themselves.
3. 80 vs England, 2012
The T20 World Cup 2012 match between Afghanistan and England at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo saw the English post a massive score of 196/5, thanks mainly to the 99 not out from Luke Wright. In pursuit of the runs, the Afghan batting lineup crumbled under pressure, getting bundled out for 99 against the highly consistent English bowling lineup despite the 44 runs from Gulbadin Naib.
2. 72 vs Bangladesh, 2014
In the T20 World Cup 2014, Bangladesh inflicted one of the worst nights in the T20I format on Afghanistan at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, dismissing them for just 72 after Shakib Al Hasan picked up three wickets. The Afghans went on to lose the contest by nine wickets after the Bangladeshi top order chased down the target with 48 balls to spare.
1. 56 vs South Africa, 2024
During their first semifinal appearance in the T20 World Cup in the 2024 edition, Afghanistan batted first at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, Trinidad, but their innings never really got out of the first gear. The South African fast bowling trio of Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, and Anrich Nortje shared seven wickets amongst themselves to skittle them out for 56 before the unbeaten second wicket stand of 55 runs between Reeza Hendricks and the captain Aiden Markaram was enough to chase down the runs with 67 balls remaining.