KABUL (SW): Afghanistan on Wednesday beat the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by eleven runs to take lead in the three-match T20 series 1-0.
Batting first on a bright sunny day, the Afghans managed to score 161 while losing six wickets in the given 20 overs. The opening pair survived the UAE attack in the start of the innings till the seventh over when the first wicket fell and 46 runs were on the board. The wickets kept falling at regular interval and no Afghan player managed to consolidate the innings.
Opener Mohammad Shahzad remained the top scorer with his 38 runs of 29 balls. At the end of the innings, Najibullah Zadran added a quick fire 31 of just ten balls with three sixes and two boundaries.
Chasing this decent target, the hosts got off a smooth start but stumbled in the later stage of the innings. UAE’s middle order showed some resistance but remained 11 runs short of the target at the end of 20th over with three wickets to spare.
Karim Janat bagged three while Rashid Khan and Fareed Alam took two wickets each. Karim was named man of the match for his rapid 25 runs and three wickets to ensure victory for Afghanistan. Next two matches of the series would be played on 14 and 16 December respectively.
ENDS
