Afghanistan thrashed Scotland with a remarkable performance to get over the line by 130 runs as Mujeeb Ur Rahman displayed a magical show with the ball on Monday at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Mohammad Nabi opted to bat first after winning the toss and the decision proved to be ideal as the Afghan openers gave a blistering start with a quick-fire 50 runs stand.
Mohammad Shahzad after scoring 22 runs, was the first one to get dismissed as Safyaan Sharif got the breakthrough.
Meanwhile, his partner Hazratullah Zazai hold the pressure from the other end to score 44 off 30 balls followed by three maximums and three boundaries.
Hazratullah was eventually undone by Watt after getting deceived by a quicker one that went through Zazai’s defense.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (46) and Najibullah Zadran (59) then joined the forces together to make Afghanistan’s chances of winning more prominent.
Zadran reached 59 runs mark on only 34 balls followed by three maximums and four boundaries.
Safyaan Sharif was the top-wickets takers for Scotland as he struck twice while Josh Wavey and Mark picked up a single wicket each to restrict Afghanistan to 190/4 in 20 overs.
While chasing, Scotland had no answers to Afghanistan’s spin attack as Mujeeb Ur Rahman picked up a five-for by conceding only 20 runs.
Scottish batters after having a decent start on 28/0 were torn out by Mujeeb to end up struggling on 37/5 after the powerplay.
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The veteran spinner took the wickets of Coetzer, MacLeod, and Berrington with the pace of only five balls.
Rashid Khan joined the party from the other end as Scotland never got the chance to get back in the game. Khan bowled brilliantly to take four wickets from his end as well.
Scotland got five dismissals without getting a chance to score a single run, three of them were golden ducks.
Afghanistan bundled out Scotland on 60 and Mujeeb Ur Rahman was named as player of the match who ended on the fixtures of 4-0-25-5.
“This was our plan, to bat first and put a big score. The way our openers started really well, finished the powerplay with a good score and then Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Najibullah Zadran rotated the strike really well…When we play the local tournaments like Shpagheeza or APL, me and Mujeeb and Rashid are the expensive bowlers. It was Mujeeb’s first game in T20 World Cup and he got the Man of the Match, it’s fantastic,”
said Mohammad Nabi, the winning skipper (AFG).
“Congratulations to our nation and it’s my first Player of the Match in a World Cup. The people supporting us here gave me a lot of positive energy. Fans have been supporting us and that’s one reason we’ve played well (the crowd roars),”
said Mujeeb Ur Rahman, player of the match (AFG).
“Clearly, not one of our better days. We have been playing some good cricket to get here, but sometimes things don’t go to plan…We have a great bunch of players and beliefs on the side. The belief among the players is key. It’s not like we’ll be locked up in separate rooms. We’ll come together to the hotel. We have to keep moving forward,”
said Kyle Coetzer, the losing skipper (SCO).
Afghanistan 190 for 4 (Najibullah 59, Gurbaz 46, Sharif 2-33) beat Scotland 60 (Munsey 25, Mujeeb 5-20, Rashid 4-9) by 130 runs.