US embassy prematurely declares Afghan victory

The US embassy in Kabul seemed to get caught up in the excitement of Afghanistan’s World Cup debut on Wednesday, congratulating the side on victory just half-way through the Bangladesh innings. The Afghans made their World Cup bow in Canberra against the Test-status holder South Asians but lost the match by 105 runs. With the match barely a quarter of the way through, the US embassy’s official Twitter account posted a message hailing Afghanistan’s “victory”. “Congratulations to #Afghanistan for their win over #Bangladesh in the Cricket World Cup #CWC15 #AFGvsBAN,” the message said. The tweet triggered a flood of sarcastic retorts about Americans in Kabul prematurely declaring victory, as well as an apologetic response from the embassy. “Premature posting but we are still cheering for team Afghanistan at the #CWC15! #AFGvsBAN,” the embassy tweeted.