Afghanistan's Omarzai, Zadran Seal Tense T20 WC Win vs UAE

Opener Ibrahim Zadran's composed 53 off 41 balls and Azmatullah Omarzai's unbeaten 40 off 21 balls ensured the chase was completed with four balls to spare, even as UAE's bowlers fought hard to keep the contest alive.

The pursuit of 161 began shakily, with Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Gulbadin Naib and Sediqullah Atal falling before the halfway mark. Zadran steadied the innings through a fluent knock laced with five fours and a six, but his dismissal reopened the door for UAE. It was left to Omarzai, already the star with 4-15 in the first innings, to finish the job. His 21‑ball cameo, laced with two fours and three sixes, sealed Afghanistan's first winning points of the tournament.

For UAE, Muhammad Arfan's disciplined spell brought two wickets and kept the chase tense, but the batting collapse in the middle overs left them short of a truly competitive total. Their 160 was par at best, and Afghanistan's batting depth proved to be decisive. The result also confirmed South Africa's qualification for the Super Eights, where India and the West Indies previously confirmed their spots.

Afghanistan's reply began with a huge blow as Rahmanullah Gurbaz attempted to loft over cover off Junaid Siddique but sliced tamely to point and fell for a two-ball duck. While Siddique and Haider Ali continued to ask questions via movement and bounce, Ibrahim Zadran broke free by lifting a half-volley from Siddique over the bowler's head for his first boundary.

The innings found momentum in the fourth over when Zadran unfurled a cut, sweep over and lofted drive down the ground to pick three boundaries in quick succession off Ali. Gulbadin Naib joined in the fun by clubbing Jawadullah over long-on for a towering maximum before slamming a cover drive for four.

Yet, just as Afghanistan seemed to settle, Muhammad Arfan struck as Gulbadin offered a simple catch to point, departing for 13. While Zadran continued to anchor by taking singles and hitting an occasional boundary, Sediqullah Atal began by clipping Arfan for four, before smacking Simranjeet Singh over long-on for six.

But Jawadullah produced an absolute jaffa - getting the yorker to come in and sneak past Atal's bat to floor the off-stump. Zadran continued to be pristine - going on backfoot to pull Simranjeet for four before reaching his fifty in 37 balls with a brace through mid-wicket.

UAE's move to bring back Arfan worked wonders when Zadran looked to pull a slower ball but top-edged to mid-wicket running in from the deep region. With 61 runs needed off 36 balls, Afghanistan found timely boundaries to keep their chase alive. Darwish Rasooli eased some pressure by flicking Jawadullah for four before Omarzai lofted Simranjeet over long-off for six.

Rasooli then lofted Arfan straight down the ground for a towering six before going past a diving fielder through an on-drive, fetching him a four. Omarzai greeted a returning Siddique with a clean swing over long-off for six, but UAE struck a decisive blow when the pacer left Rasooli's stumps in a mess with a full and straight ball.

Omarzai broke free from Jawadullah's slower balls by smacking him over deep extra cover for six before tickling through fine leg for four. Omarzai fittingly finished off the chase in style with a lofted drive over cover to get Afghanistan their first win of the competition.

Brief Scores: UAE 160/9 in 20 overs (Sohaib Khan 68, Alishan Sharafu 40; Azmatullah Omarzai 4-15, Mujeeb Ur Rahman 2-31) lost to Afghanistan 162/5 in 19.2 overs (Ibrahim Zadran 53, Azmatullah Omarzai 40 not out; Junaid Siddique 2-23, Muhammad Arfan 2-30) by five wickets

- IANS