T20 World Cup: Afghanistan scrape through to avoid another heartbreak, keep slim Super Eight hopes alive

TimesofIndia.com in New Delhi: How many days do you think one needs to recover from a heartbreak of going down in a double Super Over? Five days, is that enough? Well, Afghanistan flirted with the possibility of another Super Over, or even a defeat, but eventually went past the finish line by five wickets, with four balls remaining, against the UAE at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Monday.

At one point, it looked as if Afghanistan were headed for the exit door. Needing 28 runs from 18 balls, the ask looked too big even if they had six wickets in hand.



An over later, which saw a six and a wicket, the equation changed to 17 needed from 12 balls.

A couple of singles later, the tension was visible in the dugout and at a venue where quite a few Afghanistan flags could be spotted.

Muhammad Jawadullah, who had just produced three valuable dot balls, darted in and sent one outside off, into the fourth stump line, and Azmatullah Omarzai got underneath it and smashed it into the crowd.

Next ball, a back of length delivery, luck came to Omarzai and Afghanistan's rescue with a thick inside edge running off to the boundary rope.

With just four needed off the last over, the 25-year-old all-rounder kept Afghanistan's slender hopes of making the Super Eight alive with a boundary that went over the cover region.

Afghanistan, who have Canada next, don't control their fate in the competition anymore. If New Zealand beat Canada on Tuesday, the last edition's semi-finalists will be knocked out.

UAE post 160/9, suffer in last two overs

Sohaib Khan produced a fine half-century, but Azmatullah Omarzai’s four-wicket haul helped keep UAE to 160/9.

After choosing to bowl, Afghanistan struck early to leave UAE reeling at 13 for 2, before Sohaib anchored the innings with a composed 68 off 48 balls, studded with six fours and four sixes.

He put on a 57-ball 84-run stand for the third wicket alongside Alishan Sharafu (40 off 29), helping the side recover from the early blows.

Afghanistan, however, fought back in the middle overs with a flurry of wickets, reducing UAE to 121 for 6 by the 16th over.

Sohaib then added a further 31 runs with Haider Ali, but Omarzai returned in the 19th over to remove him and claim his fourth wicket.

Earlier, UAE suffered an early setback when the previous match hero Aryansh Sharma was dismissed for a four-ball duck, under-edging a pull to wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz off Omarzai. Captain Muhammad Waseem (10) hit two boundaries before being trapped lbw by Mujeeb Ur Rahman, as UAE slipped to 13 for 2.

Afghanistan’s replacement pacer Ziaur Rahman, who came in for left-arm seamer Fazalhaq Farooqi, and spinner Noor Ahmad both proved costly.

Rahman conceded 16 runs in his first over, with Sohaib striking three boundaries.

UAE’s batters negotiated the Afghan spinners well in the Powerplay, cashing in on anything loose. Sharafu struck two boundaries off Mujeeb as UAE moved to 55 for 2, before taking on Rashid Khan for a six to raise the half-century stand.

Noor endured a difficult outing, with Sohaib hitting him for two sixes over cover and mid-wicket as UAE reached 93 for 2 in 10 overs.

Mujeeb eventually broke the stand, with Sharafu finding Ibrahim Zadran at long-off. Omarzai then struck twice in his third over, dismissing Syed Haider (13) and forcing an edge from Harshit Kaushik (0).

Sohaib reached his fifty off 37 balls with a six, but Muhammad Arfan (0) was out attempting a reverse hit, knocking over his own stumps. Omarzai, the Man of the Match, finally ended Sohaib’s resistance in the 19th over, capping off an impressive spell.


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