Mediaboss Marketing

Raw talent: Afghanistan's Naveen-ul-Haq celebrates the dismissal of Bangladesh's Taskin Ahmed to win Monday's game (Randy Brooks)

Coach Jonathan Trott believes Afghanistan will go into Wednesday's T20 World Cup semi-final against South Africa boosted by "having no scarring, no history" unlike the accident-prone Proteas.

Afghanistan will be playing in the last-four of any World Cup for the first time.

South Africa are still without a major global title with just the 1998 Champions Trophy to show for all their endeavours.

They have also been accused of "choking" on big occasions.

Losing to Australia in the 1999 World Cup semi-finals after a farcical run-out and a blunder in reading the rain rules against Sri Lanka on home turf in 2003 are famously among their catalogue of horrors.

"We go into the semi-final with no scarring or no history with regards to semi-finals. This is uncharted territory for us," said Trott, the former Ashes-winning England batsman who was born and raised in South Africa.

"We're just going to go out there and give it our all. There's no preconceived ideas on it all, or history of failure or success in semi-finals in past years.

"For us it's a new challenge and I think that makes us dangerous in the semi-finals as a side with nothing to lose and obviously a lot of pressure on the opposition."

South Africa have defeated Afghanistan in their only two other T20 meetings -- by 59 runs at Barbados in the 2010 T20 World Cup and 37 runs in Mumbai six years later.

The Proteas have won all seven matches they have played at this World Cup but have teetered on the edge of embarrassment more than once.

In the first round, they defeated the Netherlands by four wickets after being 12-4 at one stage chasing just 104 to win.

A four-run win over Bangladesh followed before they avoided what would have been a seismic shock in a one-run victory over Nepal.

In the Super Eights, they squeezed past defending champions England by just seven runs.

Afghanistan were defeated by 47 runs at the hands of India in their second round opener before a stunning 21-run victory over Australia.

They sealed their place in the last-four with a nail-biting eight-run victory against Bangladesh on Monday.

Trott said it felt "surreal" to have led Afghanistan into the semi-finals.

The 43-year-old has certainly developed close bonds with the team since taking over as coach in July 2022.

After the rain-hit win over Bangladesh in Saint Vincent he was carried off on the players' shoulders.

"When I took over, I was astounded by the talent that I saw," added Trott.

"There was a certain rawness to it all and no real structure to how the game was played or thought about.

"I've just tried to add here and there. At no stage have I tried to clip anybody's wings. I'm just trying to make the bow of the arrow even stronger so that they can go for longer, win more games and shoot for the stars even further away."

dj/nf

Link:
Trott says Afghanistan have 'no scarring' ahead of T20 World Cup semi - Yahoo Eurosport UK

Afghanistan and Bangladesh will take the pitch for the final Super Eight match of the ICC T20 World Cup at Arnos Vale Stadium on Monday.

India, South Africa, and England have already secured their spots in the semifinals, leaving one position up for grabs. This match is a battle for a win and a strategic contest where every run and wicket will count significantly toward the net run rate.

fuboTV will stream over220 live cricket matches annually to subscribers of Fubos International Sports Plus channel add-on package with Willow by Cricbuzz. You can get a free 7-day trial to try out the service and get access throughout the season to MLB, NBA, NHL, and NFL action.

We recommend interesting sports viewing/streaming and betting opportunities. If you sign up for a service by clicking one of the links, we may earn a referral fee.Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

See the original post:
Afghanistan vs Bangladesh Live Stream: TV Channel, How to Watch - For The Win

Maxwell incited some dj vu in the seventh over with two strong boundaries, before the Aussies reached 50 at the eight-over mark consistent with the speed of Afghanistans first 10 overs batting.

Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis lifted Australia to 70/3 at the mid-point of the innings, before Stoinis fell (11 off 17) just after drinks.

Tim David (2 off 4) was also out cheaply, but a Maxwell maximum to end the 13th over took the danger man to a half-century off 35 balls.

Just as Afghanistan lost marginal hope, Gulbadin Naib stepped up to the plate and tempted Maxwell into one outside the off stump, which was superbly snatched by Noor Ahmad behind point.

It was all on the hat-trick hero Cummins when Wade (5 off 7) top-edged an attempted sweep, leaving the Aussies at 108/7, needing 41 runs off 29 balls. But he couldn't translate his form with the ball, swinging and missing to leave the Aussies in an even bigger hole with three overs to go and needing 36.

Afghanistan produced a masterclass in the field, converting every half chance into a scalp, which ultimately proved the difference. The wicket of Zampa trying to hit long down the ground had Australia all out for 127, 22 runs short of victory.

Gulbadin Naib picked up four wickets and took his own slice of history, becoming the first to do that in World Cup history - in both T20I and ODI cricket

The Afghans sealed one of the teams most famous ever victories their first over Australia. They have Bangladesh with their final Super Eight clash, while the Aussies have India.

Here is the original post:
Scenes. Afghanistan seals first-ever win over Australia with exceptional all-round display - ICC Cricket

Afghanistan is undergoing a complex and multifaceted protection crisis after four decades of armed conflict and is still grappling with its long-term consequences, including high explosive ordnance contamination, and widespread destruction of essential infrastructure. An estimated 6.3 million Afghans are still currently displaced, with many who displaced multiple times. Marginalisation, discriminatory norms and practices continue to be widespread, including the curtailment of women and girls rights and their participation in the economic, social, and public life since the Taliban led de facto authorities (DfA) takeover in August 2021.

Following the consolidation of their control, there has been a crippling economic deterioration coupled by increasing climate-shocks such a third-consecutive year of drought and multiple earthquakes which resulted in wide-scale destruction of over 382 villages across Herat Province and directly affecting over 275000 people in October 2023. Simultaneously, Afghanistan is also facing large-scale returns from Pakistan, including over 493300 from 15 September 2023 to the end of December 2023. These recent events have significantly contributed to a changed environment and became key drivers of needs and compounded the already dire humanitarian situation.

These drivers continue to erode the populations coping capacities and prevent them from becoming more resilient. Hence, despite a significant decrease in active conduct of hostilities across Afghanistan, widespread protection risks persist, characterized by significant protracted displacement, mine and explosive ordnance contamination, discrimination, and denial of access to services, resources and humanitarian assistance, restrictions to freedom of movement, growing threat of forced evictions, increased risks of gender-based violence (GBV), child labour, early marriage and heightened needs for mental health and psychosocial support. The protection space is shrinking and is affecting particularly women, girls, IDPs, returnees, persons living with disabilities, elderly, and other vulnerable groups. The protection risks requiring immediate attention in the period covered by this analysis are:

See the original post here:
Afghanistan Protection Analysis Update - Update on protracted-crisis and climate-related protection risks trends, May ... - ReliefWeb

People are seen near to their damaged homes after heavy flooding in Baghlan province in northern Afghanistan on Saturday. Mehrab Ibrahimi/AP hide caption

People are seen near to their damaged homes after heavy flooding in Baghlan province in northern Afghanistan on Saturday.

ISLAMABAD Flash floods from unusually heavy seasonal rains in Afghanistan have killed more than 300 people and destroyed over 1,000 houses, the U.N. food agency said Saturday.

The World Food Program said it was distributing fortified biscuits to the survivors of one of the many floods that hit Afghanistan over the last few weeks, mostly the northern province of Baghlan, which bore the brunt of the deluges Friday.

In neighboring Takhar province, state-owned media outlets reported the floods killed at least 20 people.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief spokesman for the Taliban government, posted on the social media platform X that "hundreds ... have succumbed to these calamitous floods, while a substantial number have sustained injuries."

Mujahid identified the provinces of Badakhshan, Baghlan, Ghor and Herat as the worst hit. He added that "the extensive devastation" has resulted in "significant financial losses."

He said the government had ordered all available resources mobilized to rescue people, transport the injured and recover the dead.

A man walks near his damaged home after heavy flooding in Baghlan province in northern Afghanistan on Saturday. Mehrab Ibrahimi/AP hide caption

A man walks near his damaged home after heavy flooding in Baghlan province in northern Afghanistan on Saturday.

The Taliban Defense Ministry said in a statement Saturday that the country's air force has already begun evacuating people in Baghlan and has rescued a large number of people stuck in flooded areas and transported 100 injured people to military hospitals in the region.

Richard Bennett, U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, said on X that the floods are a stark reminder of Afghanistan's vulnerability to the climate crisis and both immediate aid and long-term planning by the Taliban and international actors are needed.

Videos posted on social media showed dozens of people gathered Saturday behind the hospital in Baghlan looking for their loved ones. An official tells them that they should go and start digging graves while their staff are busy with preparing bodies for the burial ceremony.

Officials previously said that in April at least 70 people died from heavy rains and flash flooding in the country. About 2,000 homes, three mosques, and four schools were also damaged.

Go here to read the rest:
Flash floods kill more than 300 people in northern Afghanistan - NPR