Afghanistan keep calm heads as they edge the UAE in close finish that seen them emerge victorious by 4 runs.
Afghanistan hold their nerve, UAE go down fighting in nail-biting finish.
The game was predetermined for Afghanistan. Their captain, Rashid Khan, was one of six players sitting out as they played as a second-string team. Asif Khan, however, threatened to tear it apart. A rubber that had been lifeless had come alive. Fareed Ahmad was hit for 4 and 6 off the first two deliveries of the last over, which he began with 16 to defend. The left arm swiftly sensed that an upheaval was imminent. Asif batted on 40 off 25 and felt it. It didn’t happen.
Fareed had three opportunities to change the result, and each time he chose the ideal strategy to end the game: 4, 6, 2, dot, dot, wicket. The UAE finished the tri-series without a victory, but they were extremely close. The final moments were extremely painful, especially for Asif and Muhammad Waseem, the captain. They will add a lot of intrigue to the Asia Cup.
For the tenth time in his career, Ibrahim Zadran was serving as Afghanistan’s captain. The UAE was the opponent in four of those games. It’s clear why he served as a stand-in. He was magnificent when the runs came, and cool when they didn’t (5 off 9). He appears to be so technically accurate that even his angry shots were classy.
UAE jumped right into the hunt, scoring nearly twice as many boundaries in the powerplay (7 vs. 4) as Afghanistan. Mujeeb Ur Rahman was deposited inside out over cover for six by the mesmerising Waseem. As he stalks Rohit Sharma on top of the six-hitters’ standings in T20Is, he produced another brilliant bit of inventiveness by upper-cutting the rookie Abdollah Ahmadzai over deep third. It appeared that the UAE had the firepower to secure the much-needed consolation victory.
The greenest player on a team that was reserving the majority of its firepower for the final, however, punched through an opportunity when Waseem attempted the same shot and feathered an edge behind. Afghanistan came together and changed the equation from 67 off 48 balls to a far more concerning 43 off 18. From the 14th to the 17th overs, Mujeeb and Noor Ahmad bowled together and were nearly unhittable. When it was the debutant’s turn, the UAE bench began to stir when Abdollah gave Asif 16 runs.
They narrowly prevailed in the end, but four more boundaries, including one dropped catch, in the final two overs kept the match going and caused friction among the Afghanistan coaching staff.