Rashid Khan out of words after clinching semi-final spot

|| CF DESK ||

Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan was overwhelmed after Afghanistan beat Bangladesh in a dramatic last Super 8 clash in Kingstown to qualify for their maiden World Cup semi-final.

"It's something like a dream for us as a team to be in the semi-final. It's all about the way we had started the tournament. The belief came when we beat New Zealand. So it's unbelievable. I don't have any words to describe my feelings. Definitely back home everyone is so, so happy for this. I think the only guy who had us in the semi-final was Brian Lara. At the welcome party, I told him, 'We won't let you down. We will prove that you are right.’” Rashid said after the match.

Defending a modest total of 115-5 on a bowler-friendly surface, Rashid finished with figures of 4-23 while Naveen took 4-26 as Bangladesh were dismissed for 105, chasing a revised target of 114 off 19 overs.

While Afghanistan needed only a win to qualify for the knockouts, the equation for Bangladesh was much tougher, they needed to chase down the target in 12.1 overs, something Afghanistan took advantage of. With rain in the air, the pendulum swung from one side to another multiple times before Afghanistan sealed the match.

"In our mind, we felt 130-135 was a good total on this wicket but we were 15-20 runs short," Rashid said. "But a few games we had watched before, 115 was the best total on this wicket. So it was all about the mindset. We knew they would come hard at us to chase it in 12 overs to get into the semi-final and that's what we could take advantage of.

"If we bowled into the stumps, we had the chance of bowling them out. We didn't need to do anything extra. We were very clear with our planning. Putting in that 100% effort is always in your hands. Rain, drizzle is not in your hand. And we had to push ourselves for people back home, for their happiness, to make the country proud. That was the discussion we had and everyone did a wonderful job."