Azmatullah Omarzai starred with stellar all-round efforts as Afghanistan edged past an impressive UAE challenge in the T20 World Cup Group D clash at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi, to keep their slim Super Eight hopes alive. This was Afghanistan's first win of the tournament after having lost a close game to New Zealand and a heart-stopper two Super-Over clash to South Africa.
Omarzai was the star of the match as he first struck deadly blows with the ball to pick four wickets before slamming a match-winning 40 from 21 balls to help his team hunt down 161 with five wickets in hand and four balls to spare.
Omarzai, Zadran power Afghanistan with bat
Afghanistan had lost their last match hero Rahmanullah Gubraz early for a duck, and then Gulbadin Naib (13) departed cheaply, leaving them at 41 for 2 at the end of the Powerplay. The other opener, Ibrahim Zadran, brought the chase back on track with his strong 53 from 41 balls; however, when he departed, things turned interesting with UAE sensing something as Afghanistan still needed 64 more from 41 balls.
However, Omarzai came and struck a crucial 43-run stand with Darwish Rasooli for the fifth wicket as he powered the chase with a blistering knock. With 28 needed off the final three overs, he slammed two sixes and a four off the next two overs to bring the equation down to four off the final over and then nailed the winning four on the second ball of the last over.
Omarzai starred with ball
Earlier, Omarzai was the star with the ball as he troubled the UAE batters right from the first over, removing opener Aryansh Sharma on the fourth ball of the match. He kept striking with his wily bowling as he struck thrice more to keep the lid on the UAE batters. For the UAE, Sohaib Khan stood tall with his second consecutive fifty as he made 68 off 48 balls, but his effort was short.
South Africa through to next round
Afghanistan's win officially confirms South Africa's progress to the Super Eight stage in the tournament as they have six points from three matches. New Zealand are second with four points in three games and are likely to be the second team from the group to make it through to the next stage. UAE, Afghanistan and Canada can now reach a maximum of four points.
