Afghanistan stuns Australia, no thanks to Pat Cummins’s second hat-trick

Afghanistan surprised Australia, shaking up the competition for the T20 World Cup semi-finals, despite Pat Cummins' hat-trick for the second straight match. Gulbadin Naib collected four for 20, including Glenn Maxwell's important scalp, to secure a 21-run victory and set up a tight final round of Super 8 pool stage matches.

Openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz, the tournament's best run-scorer, and Ibrahim Zadran got Afghanistan off to a good start in St Vincent, putting up 118 for the first wicket. Marcus Stoinis broke the partnership in the 16th over, with Gurbaz caught by David Warner for 60, followed by Adam Zampa's wickets of Zadran for 51 and Azmatullah Omarzai in the following over. Cummins then stole the show, dismissing Rashid Khan with the penultimate ball of the 18th over and Karim Janat and Naib with the first two balls of the last over. The Australian openers were unable to match their opponents' exploits, and their innings ended at 127 all out, with Naveen-ul-Haq collecting three for 20.