Afghanistan posted a 189-run target for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) courtesy of Sediqullah Atal and Ibrahim Zadran’s fifties in the third match of the T20I tri-series at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Monday.
Put into bat first, the Rashid Khan-led side racked up 188/4 in their allotted 20 overs, courtesy of an anchoring second-wicket partnership between Atal and Zadran.
Afghanistan got off to a contrasting start to their innings as hard-hitting opening batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz (seven) fell victim to Muhammad Rohid on the first delivery of the fourth over with just 16 runs on the board.
Following the early stutter, Zadran joined Atal in the middle and the duo turned the tide in Afghanistan’s favour by putting together 84 runs for the second wicket off just 55 deliveries.
The crucial stand eventually culminated with Atal’s dismissal off Saghir Khan in the 13th over. The opening batter scored 54 off 40 deliveries, laced with four fours and three sixes.
Zadran was then involved in a brief 20-run partnership for the third wicket with Darwish Rasooli, who could score 10 off seven deliveries before being dismissed by Rohid.
The top-order batter and all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai then took Afghanistan’s total past the 150-run mark by putting together a balanced 40-run partnership, which eventually culminated with Zadran’s dismissal in the 18th over.
Zadran remained the top-scorer for Afghanistan with a 40-ball 63, studded with three fours and four sixes.
Following his departure, Omarzai and Karim Janat registered an unbeaten 28-run partnership, ensuring a strong finish for Afghanistan despite Junaid Siddique’s four-run final over.
For UAE, Saghir and Rohid took two wickets each, while the rest went wicketless, including Junaid, who needed just one to complete 100 scalps in T20Is.
Playing XIs
UAE: Muhammad Waseem (capt), Muhammad Zohaib, Asif Khan, Rahul Chopra (wk), Ethan D’Souza, Harshit Kaushik, Dhruv Parashar, Saghir Khan, Haider Ali, Muhammad Rohid, Junaid Siddique
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Karim Janat, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan (capt), Mohammad Nabi, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi
