Afghanistan overcame a determined UAE team in the insignificant sixth game of the UAE T20I Tri-Series 2025 on Friday, September 5, at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Having having secured their berth in the final, the Blue Tigers chose to make six changes to their starting lineup from the previous game. Ibrahim Zadran assumed leadership in Rashid Khan’s absence. He won the toss and decided to bat first.
The stand-in captain delivered an outstanding performance, smashing 48 off just 35 balls at the top of the order. He scored 98 runs for the first wicket alongside Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who failed to play his natural game. Gurbaz was out on the penultimate ball of the 12th over for 38 off 40 balls, while Zadran went out on the next delivery.
Simranjeet Singh dismissed Mohammad Ishaq after a few overs. Karim Janat (28 off 14 balls) and Gulbadin Naib (20* off 14 balls) made superb cameos to provide the tourists with much-needed momentum towards the conclusion of the innings. Azmatullah Omarzai also contributed with an unbeaten nine-ball 14.
Haider Ali was the pick of the bowlers for the UAE.
The left-arm spinner bagged two wickets and conceded just 23 runs in his four overs as Afghanistan were restricted to 170/4 in their 20 overs.
UAE captain Muhammad Waseem gave his team a rollicking start, smashing 44 off just 29 balls. Alishan Sharafu (27 off 23) and Muhammad Zohaib (23 off 19) got off to starts but could not capitalise. Rahul Chopra, on the other hand, was dismissed cheaply.
Asif Khan joined forces with Harshit Kaushik and tried to take the UAE over the line. The former was the more destructive batter, as he took the attack to the Afghanistan bowlers.
With 17 runs needed off the final over, and two set batters at the crease, Asif hit a four and a six off the first two balls to put seamer Fareed Ahmad under pressure. However, the latter bounced back strongly, conceding just two runs off the next three deliveries. With five required off the final delivery, Fareed got the wicket of Asif to break the hearts of the UAE fans.
India
