David Warner's 15-year international career came to an anti-climactic end on Tuesday as Australia were dumped out of the T20 World Cup in excruciating fashion.

Australia and Warner could only watch on powerless as Afghanistan instead reached the semi-finals by beating Bangladesh by a nail-biting eight runs.

Australia's fate had hung in the balance after India defeated them by 24 runs in St. Lucia on a day of high drama.

The 37-year-old opening batsman Warner had always said the World Cup in the United States and Caribbean would be his farewell to international cricket.

He couldn't have imagined going out quite like this.

The combative Warner stood tall at the top of the Australian order ever since his international debut in January 2009, and as opening partners came and went.

He hangs up his pads as arguably Australia's greatest three-format player. He is the country's leading run-scorer in T20 cricket with 3,277 from 110 games.

Warner exited a glittering 112-Test career in January after plundering 8,786 runs at an average of 44.60, with a strike rate of 70.19. His one-day exploits were equally impressive, crunching 6,932 runs from 161 matches.

Warner was also one of the most consistent slip fielders in the game, whose name was among the first on the team sheet.

"He is probably our greatest-ever three-format player. He'll be a loss," Australia coach Andrew McDonald said recently.

"Other people have been gunning for him for a period of time, but for us internally, we've seen the great value and what he brings to the table, hence why we've kept picking him."

Afghanistan advanced to their first-ever senior world tournament semi-final with a nerve-jangling eight-run victory over Bangladesh at the T20 World Cup on Monday that eliminated mighty Australia.

Amid excruciating tension at the Arnos Vale Stadium in St Vincent, Afghan captain Rashid Khan and seamer Naveen ul Haq were the heroes as Afghanistan battled through three rain stoppages to secure a famous victory under the DLS scoring method that was sealed after 1am local time.

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.

An unbeaten 54 from Bangladesh opener Litton Das (49 balls, five fours, one six) threatened to deny Afghanistan's fairytale win and earn Australia the last semi-final spot.

But pacer Naveen claimed the last two wickets – Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman – off consecutive deliveries to trigger delirious Afghan celebrations and leave a disconsolate Das stranded at the non-striker’s end.

"We have worked so hard over the past few years and we were dreaming of this day. It’s a surreal experience," said a relieved but delighted "Man of the Match" Naveen.

"We always knew they were going to be coming hard at us to try to get the target in 12.1 overs but we stuck to the task and kept getting wickets."

India captain Rohit Sharma surpassed Babar Azam to become the leading run-scorer in T20Is during the T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8 match against Australia at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Ground in St Lucia on Monday.

Sharma has scored 4,165 runs in 149 T20Is innings with an impressive  140.80  strike rate and 32.28 average, overtaking Azam who amassed 4,145 runs in 116 innings at an average of 41.03 and 129.08 strike rate. 

Most runs in T20Is

Rohit Sharma — 4,160* runs in 149 innings

Babr Azam -4145 runs in 116 innings 

Beleaguered Afghans were riding high Monday after a historic weekend T20 World Cup victory over Australia spread a rare mood of euphoria across the country.

"With every ball, every run, every boundary, every wicket, I wasn't able to hold my emotions," said university student Zamir Afghan in the capital Kabul.

"It was very early morning, but I was jumping, screaming, I was not able to contain myself," the 20-year-old told AFP. "I couldn't stop my tears."

Afghanistan seized on a poor Australian field performance to post 148-6 in their innings before bowling the 2021 champions out for 127 -- their first ever win over Australia.

"Afghanistan as a nation has suffered a lot, such moments are rare for us," said Afghan.

Whilst cricket is hugely popular in Afghanistan, the match over 11,000 kilometres (7,000 miles) away in Arnos Vale on the Caribbean island of St Vincent, took place around dawn local time.

Though the last ball was bowled around 8:30 am (0400 GMT) on Sunday, many diehard fans had been awake to witness the win.

In eastern Khost city, around 1,000 raucous cricket fans gathered to bask in the glow of fireworks early on Sunday morning in half an hour of revelry swiftly broken up by Taliban security forces.

An uncowed smaller crowd came together again at night, clapping as they lit off more pyrotechnics.

Since the Taliban took over in August 2021 and introduced an austere vision of Islam, scenes of public jubilation have been rare.

"Such moments are special for everyone," said 18-year-old fruit shop worker Saddam Saleh. "Beating the mighty Australia is not something small."

South Africa leg-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi lambasted his team's "ridiculous" critics after the Proteas won another T20 World Cup nail-biter to reach the semi-finals.

Shamsi claimed 3-27 in Sunday's three-wicket win over two-time champions West Indies as South Africa chalked up a seventh win in seven games at the tournament.

The 34-year-old took the wickets of dangerous opener Kyle Mayers and top-scoring Roston Chase in his four overs.

Four days earlier, he had conceded 50 runs on the same ground as the United States threatened a shock victory and he was dropped for the victory over England.

"In the previous game I bowled later in the innings and I went for 50 and there were certain critics coming out from the woodwork, speaking about pressure and how I can't handle pressure," said Shamsi.

"I think in a quarter-final match I hope that was enough pressure for me to respond to."

Shamsi said he was dismayed by the criticism he and his team have faced in their campaign.

"It's just a little bit ridiculous when it's ex-players," said Shamsi.

"When they were on the field they did the same things. As cricketers we know sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't."

South Africa topped their first round group as well as their pool in the second stage Super Eights with defending champions England also going through to the last four.

However, it has been a roller-coaster ride for the Proteas who are still without a world title after a succession of painful near-misses.

At this tournament, they have had to dig deep to preserve their winning momentum.

They defeated the Netherlands by four wickets after being 12-4 at one stage chasing just 104 to win.

South Africa edged the West Indies by three wickets in a rain-affected Super Eights match on Sunday to reach the T20 World Cup semi-finals and eliminate the hosts.

Chasing a revised 123 off 17 overs, South Africa stuttered to 110-7 as Roston Chase took three wickets, but they reached their target when Marco Jansen hit the first ball of the final over for six.

Man of the match Tabraiz Shamsi took 3-27 after South Africa won the toss and restricted the West Indies to 135-8 at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.

All-rounder Chase top scored with 52, featuring in an 81-run third-wicket partnership with Kyle Mayers (35 off 34 balls) before giving the West Indies hope by taking 3-12 with his off-spin.

Jansen's unbeaten 21 saw the Proteas to victory at 124-7 when he smashed the final six off Obed McCoy.

"The last time I played here I went for 50 runs and there was a lot of chatter going around," said Shamsi.

"I was happy to come back and perform my role, but credit as well to the guys who bowled before me because they set it up beautifully."

Brought in for seamer Ottneil Baartman, the left-arm wrist-spinner got excellent support from fellow slow bowlers Keshav Maharaj (1-24) and captain Aiden Markram (1-28).

Chase was dropped on 11 by Anrich Nortje and made the most of his luck, clearing the ropes twice and hitting three fours.

His partnership with Mayers helped rescue the hosts after they fell to 5-2 in the second over.

Once Shamsi removed Mayers to a sliced catch at deep cover, a steady stream of wickets enabled South Africa to restrict the West Indies.

With the score on 117-6, Nortje made amends for his earlier error with a direct hit to run out the dangerous Andre Russell who had hit two sixes in his 15 off nine balls.

Reigning champions England qualified for the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup after hammering the United States by 10 wickets in their concluding Super Eights match in Barbados on Sunday.

Chris Jordan took four wickets in five balls as England dismissed the USA for 115.

England captain Jos Buttler then made 83 not out as his side raced to 117-0 in 9.4 overs to guarantee a place in the last four.

Afghanistan stunned Australia with a 21-run victory to keep their T20 World Cup semi-final hopes alive.
Afghanistan made 148-6 and then bowled out their opponents for 127 in 19.2 overs for their first ever victory over the Australians.
Earlier, Pat Cummins claimed his second hat-trick in as many matches as Afghanistan lost momentum after another century opening stand from and had to settle for a total of 148-6 against Australia in their T20 World Cup Super Eight match.
A top score of 60 off 49 balls (four fours, four sixes) by Rahmanullah Gurbaz and 51 off 48 balls (six fours) from Ibrahim Zadran gave the Afghans an excellent platform of 118.

Leg-spinner Kuldeep Yadav took three key wickets while Hardik Pandya blasted an undefeated half-century as India moved to the brink of the T20 World Cup semi-finals with a 50-run rout of Bangladesh on Saturday.

Chasing 197 for victory, Bangladesh managed just 146-8 off their 20 overs in reply.

India now have two wins from two Super Eight games and will be guaranteed a semi-final spot if Australia defeat Afghanistan later Saturday and also make the last four from Group 1.

Bangladesh won the toss and opted to field first against India in the T20 World Cup 2024 match, which is being played at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound on Saturday.

Earlier, India have won their first game of this round against Afghanistan while Bangladesh lost to Australia.

Playing XIs

Bangladesh: Tanzid Hasan, Litton Das (wk), Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Towhid Hridoy, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Jaker Ali, Rishad Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Mustafizur Rahman

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah