SHARJAH, United Arab Emirates: Afghanistan secured their first win of the T20I tri-series with a 38-run victory over hosts United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Monday, thanks to half-centuries from Ibrahim Zadran and Sediqullah Atal and a disciplined bowling display led by skipper Rashid Khan and Sharafuddin Ashraf.
Put in to bat, Afghanistan posted 188/4 in their 20 overs after recovering from the early dismissal of Rahmanullah Gurbaz for just seven.
Atal and Zadran steadied the innings with a fluent 84-run stand for the second wicket, changing the momentum of the match.
Atal struck 54 off 40 balls with four fours and three sixes, while Zadran top-scored with 63 from 40 deliveries, hitting three boundaries and four maximums.
Darwish Rasooli chipped in with 10 before falling to Muhammad Rohid, but Zadran carried the innings forward with support from Azmatullah Omarzai.
The pair added 40 runs for the fourth wicket before Zadran departed in the 18th over.
Omarzai and Karim Janat then ensured a strong finish with an unbeaten 28-run partnership.
For UAE, Rohid and Saghir Khan picked up two wickets each, while Junaid Siddique remained wicketless and missed out on completing 100 career T20I scalps.
Chasing 189, UAE began positively with skipper Muhammad Waseem leading the charge. He smashed 67 off 37 balls, including 10 boundaries and six sixes, and shared a 61-run stand with Ethan D’Souza to take UAE to 76/1 after eight overs.
However, Rashid trapped D’Souza lbw in the ninth over, and Ashraf removed Waseem shortly after to swing the contest back in Afghanistan’s favour.
The home side collapsed from 90/2 to 112/7 as Rashid and Ashraf ripped through the middle order.
Despite a valiant unbeaten 52 from wicketkeeper-batter Rahul Chopra, UAE could only manage 150/8.
Rashid and Ashraf both finished with three wickets apiece, while Fazalhaq Farooqi and Mohammad Nabi took one each.
The result lifted Afghanistan to second in the tri-series standings with two points from as many matches, while UAE slipped to the bottom after back-to-back defeats.
Afghanistan Playing XI
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Karim Janat, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan (capt), Mohammad Nabi, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi
UAE Playing XI
Muhammad Waseem (capt), Muhammad Zohaib, Asif Khan, Rahul Chopra (wk), Ethan D’Souza, Harshit Kaushik, Dhruv Parashar, Saghir Khan, Haider Ali, Muhammad Rohid, Junaid Siddique
