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Afghanistan pulled off a dramatic victory over the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to register their first win of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 in match 28 held at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Monday.
Azmatullah Omarzai played a match-winning knock while chasing after achieving impressive bowling figures of 15/4 in Afghanistan's third Group D fixture, which helped the Rashid Khan-led side secure a five-wicket win over the UAE. Chasing a challenging target of 161 runs, Junaid Siddique got rid of the in-form batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz on the second delivery of the first over. This was the fifth instance in T20Is that Siddique dismissed Gurbaz. Gulbadin Naib joined Ibrahim Zadran, and the duo added 40 runs for the second wicket. Zadran targeted Haider Ali and hit four boundaries to collect 18 runs from the fourth over. Naib thumped Muhammad Jawadullah for a couple of boundaries in the next over, before losing his wicket to Muhammad Arfan in the sixth over. Sediqullah Atal replaced him at the crease and added 30 runs for the third wicket with Zadran before losing his wicket to Jawadullah after making 16 off 14 balls. Zadran completed his half-century but lost his wicket soon after that. He made 53 runs off 41 balls, including six fours and a six. Darwish Rasooli added 43 runs for the fifth wicket with Azmatullah Omarzai. Rasooli made 33 off 23 balls with the help of four boundaries. 52 runs were needed in the last five overs, but Omarzai made it look easy, first by setting a partnership with Rasooli, then finishing the match in the last couple of overs. Omarzai remained unbeaten on 40 off 21 balls with the help of two fours and three sixes. He also hit the winning boundary on the second delivery of the last over as Afghanistan secured their first victory of the competition. Earlier, Afghanistan halted the UAE at 160/9 in 20 overs after inviting them to bat first. Omarzai was the best bowler for Afghanistan as he picked up four wickets while conceding 15 runs in his four overs. Mujeeb Ur Rahman also took a couple of wickets. Captain Rashid Khan also took one wicket in the match and became the first-ever cricketer to complete 700 T20 wickets. Alishan Sharafu made 40 runs off 31 balls, and Sohaib Khan's 68 runs off 48 balls helped the UAE set a challenging target for the Afghans. Afghanistan's final group-stage fixture is against Canada, scheduled for Thursday at Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium, while the UAE will face South Africa in New Delhi on Wednesday. (ANI)
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