Afghanistan have crushed Uganda by 125 runs in their first match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the Providence Stadium.
Uganda won the toss and invited Afghanistan to bat first. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and his partner Ibrahim Zadran hit half centuries to help their side set a 184 runs target for the opposition.
Gurbaz slammed 76 off 45 balls, while Zadran struck 70 off 46. Gurbaz smashed four boundaries and as many sixes.
Their opening partnership of 154 was the second highest in T20 World Cup history, only behind the 170-run stand between England’s Jos Buttler and Alex Hales at the 2022 edition.
Though Gurbaz and Zadran seemed set to remain unbeaten, Uganda mounted a minor comeback late in the innings. Captain Brian Masaba and Cosmas Kyewuta each took two wickets, while Alpesh Ramjani added one more.
Masaba made history by taking Uganda’s first-ever World Cup wicket, bowling Zadran in the 15th over to leave Afghanistan at 154-1.
Ramjani dismissed Gurbaz, who was caught by Riazat Ali Shah at deep square leg for 76. Masaba then claimed his second wicket, removing Najibullah Zadran, caught at deep square leg by Dinesh Nakrani.
Kyewuta captured the wickets of Gulbadin Naib and Azmatullah Omarzai, slowing Afghanistan’s scoring towards the end.
In reply, Uganda were in all sorts of trouble right from the word go as they were bundled out for just 58 runs.
For Afghanistan, Fazal Haq Farooqi was the star of the show with five wickets for nine runs in his devastating spell.
Rashid Khan and Naveen-ul-Haq chipped in with a couple while Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman took a solitary wicket.
Afghanistan will be pleased with this win, which gives a massive boost to their net run rate.
The national squad will take on New Zealand on June 8 in their second match in mega event.
kk/mud
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