Afghanistan advanced to their first-ever T20 World Cup semi-final after securing a dramatic eight-run victory over Bangladesh in a rain-affected match at the Arnos Vale Stadium in St Vincent on Tuesday.

Despite defending a modest total of 115 for five on a challenging, bowler-friendly pitch, Afghan captain Rashid Khan excelled by taking four wickets for 23 runs. The match faced three rain stoppages, leading to a revised target of 114 runs off 19 overs. Bangladesh, needing a victory to have any chance of advancing, were ultimately dismissed for 105 runs in 17.5 overs.

Rashid Khan picked up four wickets after the second rain break before Naveen-ul-Haq snared two as Afghanistan clinched the thriller by just eight runs to make the T20 World Cup semi-final for the first time in history.

Litton Das put on a valiant show on with his half-century knock, but lacked support from the other end, as he remained unbeaten on 54 in Bangladesh's failure to chase down the revised target of 114. The rain stopped play once again after Naveen-ul-Haq put Bangladesh on the backfoot with a two-wicket over. He got the better of Najmul Shanto and Shakib Al Hasan.

Meanwhile, Fazalhaq Farooqi drew the first blood and dismissed Tanzid Hasan. Bangladesh are 31/3 in 3.2 overs. Earlier, The rain struck right after the Afghanistan innings which ended with a six by Rashid Khan. They managed to post 115/5 in 20 overs courtesy a late cameo by the skipper.

Earlier, Afghanistan failed to take advantage of the powerplay and scored just 27. Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan won the toss and elected to bat first against Bangladesh in the all-important clash on Tuesday. The Afghans decided to go unchanged from their last match where they outclassed Australia. While Bangladesh make a couple of changes.

Rashid Khan and Co. have set their eyes on the semi-final berth as Bangladesh remain the last hurdle in their way to book a spot for the last-four match against South Africa. Team India has made their job easy by beating Australia on Monday night, as now Afghanistan just have to beat Bangladesh without any worry about the NRR. The loss will knock Afghanistan out of the T20 World Cup, as they have an inferior NRR to the Aussies. Meanwhile, despite the defeats in their first two Super 8 matches, Bangladesh are still alive in the semis race but the situation is not as easy for them - they have to beat the Afghan side by 62 runs (having scored 160, say) or win in 12.5 overs (chasing 160), which will take their NRR above Australia and Afghanistan.

The two teams have faced each other 11 times in T20Is, where Afghanistan have a slight edge over the Bangla Tigers with six wins over them in reply to five. Meanwhile, Bangladesh held an edge over them in T20 World Cup as they won the lone clash when the two faced in the mega ICC event.

Earlier, Afghanistan had boosted their chances of making their first-ever World Cup semifinal when they downed the mighty Australians on Saturday. Rashid and Co. produced a spirited performance to register their first-ever win over Australia in international cricket.

The Afghans will be riding high on confidence, having exacted revenge from Australia for their ODI World Cup loss last year in Mumbai. They would fancy their chances against a down-and-out Bangladesh, who seemed happy just to progress to the Super Eights. Bangladesh, on the other hand, have already given up. Although they do have a minuscule chance of progressing to the semifinals, back-to-back defeats against Australia and India have deflated their confidence.

"To be honest, I don't think we have a chance to play the semi-finals anymore after this loss (against India)," senior all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan said on Saturday. Meanwhile, after the defeat against India, Australia captain Mitchell Marsh is banking on Bangladesh to help them qualify for the semifinals.

"It's disappointing. Still technically a chance to go through, and today India got the better of us. I think over the course of 40 overs there are a lot of small margins, but honestly, India were the better team. In a run chase like that, you're in it if you can keep it at tens for as long as possible, but India were too good for us. Come on, Bangladesh!" Marsh said in the post-match presentation.