JOIN US Cricket fans across Afghanistan generated a party mood for their team's World Cup debut on Wednesday, but there were long faces as their side crumbled to a big defeat by Bangladesh.
In towns and villages across the country, crowds gathered round TVs in restaurants, cafes and even in the street to watch the game. But the mood turned glum as the Afghan innings began with the loss of three quick wickets and the newcomers eventually went down by a large margin of 105 runs.
Ahmad Shoaib had been optimistic that the Afghans would cap their fairytale rise to the World Cup with a win. "I am at loss for words. I could smash the TV. After all those stunning achievements, we were hoping for a better performance against Bangladesh," he told AFP. "How did we lose to Bangladesh? I can't believe it, we had beaten them before!", he added in a reference to their win over the Test nation during last year's Asia Cup.