US Embassy mistakenly hails great Afghan victory
Afghanistan's debut in the World Cup briefly brought confusion at the US Embassy in Kabul as they tweeted congratulations on a victory that did not exist with the match still in its first innings
ESPNcricinfo staff
18-Feb-2015
A group of Afghanistan fans in Kabul check the score • AFP
Cricket history will forever relate that Afghanistan's World Cup bow ended with defeat against Bangladesh, but there was a point in the match when at least one observer saw it rather differently.
An Afghanistan victory was prematurely pronounced by the United States embassy in Kabul which seemed under the illusion that they had won the match even though at that stage it was midway through the first innings.
Congratulations to #Afghanistan for their win over #Bangladesh in the Cricket World Cup #CWC15 #AFGvsBAN
— U.S. Embassy Kabul (@USEmbassyKabul) February 18, 2015"Congratulations to #Afghanistan for their win over #Bangladesh in the #CWC15 #AFGvsBAN# the US Embassy's official Twitter account pronounced in a tweet that was more impressive for its liberal use of hashtags than the accuracy of its information.
With millions in Afghanistan estimated to be watching the biggest match in their history, the breakdown in American intelligence brought a rush of amused responses, causing the Embassy to apologise for prematurely announcing a victory that never quite came and to wish them good luck in their next match.