Afghanistan's veteran all-rounder Gulbadin Naib produced a moment of comic relief during his team's dramatic win over Bangladesh in a Super Eight match of the T20 World Cup at St Vincent. With Bangladesh struggling at 81/7 in their chase of 116, Afghan coach Jonathan Trott told his players to slow down the game with the threat of rain looming large.
Naib, who was fielding in the first slip, went down clutching his hamstring in the 12th over of the innings. Afghan skipper Rashid Khan was oblivious to the coach's instruction and wanted to get on with the game and ride the momentum. Rashid was livid with Naib.
But Naib succeeded in his attempt to halt the play and the umpires took the players off the field with the arrival of rain. The Afghans were ahead on the Duckworth-Lewis (DLS) method by two runs at that stage.
Bangladeshi batter Litton Das was quick to call the bluff. As the players were called in during the rain break, Das was seen walking off with Afghanistan's Mohammad Nabi, feigning a cramp himself with a sly laugh.
Soon, the rain stopped and the match resumed with the target being revised to 114 in 19 overs. Naib struck a vital blow as he sent back Tanzim Hasan Sakib to reduce Bangladesh to 92/8. Afghanistan went on to script a famous win by eight runs via DLS and made it to the semifinals of the global event for the first time, while Das carried the bat (54 not out) in the unsuccessful chase. Naib was at the forefront of the celebrations as the Afghan players set off after their dramatic victory.
