While a passion for cricket has spread through war-torn Afghanistan since their national team was formed in 2001, it appears a true understanding of the game has yet to penetrate the walls of the US Embassy.
The government body in Kabul tried – and failed – to get in on the excitement surrounding the Cricket World Cup on Wednesday morning by congratulating the country for victory over Bangladesh when the match was scarcely underway.
Just 10 overs into the first innings of the Pool A match in Canberra – Afghanistan’s first appearance in the 50-over competition – the embassy’s official Twitter account hailed a famous triumph, writing: “Congratulations to #Afghanistan for their win over #Bangladesh in the Cricket World Cup #CWC15 #AFGvsBAN”.
Congratulations to #Afghanistan for their win over #Bangladesh in the Cricket World Cup #CWC15 #AFGvsBAN
— U.S. Embassy Kabul (@USEmbassyKabul) February 18, 2015
A flurry of retweets, favourites and corrective replies duly followed, with the embassy forced into an embarrassing climbdown 40 minutes later when it conceded: “Premature posting but we are still cheering for team Afghanistan at the #CWC15! #AFGvsBAN”.
Almost inevitably some followers took the gun-jumping post as a sign that foul play was at hand, with a number claiming a fix was underway in the match.
Those theories looked less convincing when Afghanistan stumbled to 3-3 in reply to Bangladesh’s 267 all out from their 50 overs and were then comprehensively beaten by 105 runs.
