Afghanistan gave Uganda an incredibly tough initiation to World Cup cricket as they humbled them with both bat and ball to secure a mammoth 125-run victory. Afghanistan came through on Rashid Khan’s claim that they weren’t just a bowling-reliant side anymore as the openers put on a show for most part of the innings. Even as they stuttered at the end, their total of 183/5 was far too good for Uganda. Left-arm pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi went on to pick a fifer and finish with the fourth-best bowling figures in men’s T20 World Cup history (5 for 9).
Where was the game won?
The PowerPlay. Afghanistan first blazed away through their openers and then came back to bamboozle the World Cup first-timers by picking five wickets in this period, putting a swift end to any hopes Uganda had of having a memorable evening.
| Parameters | Afghanistan | Uganda |
|---|---|---|
| Runs | 66/0 | 21/5 |
| RR | 11 | 3.6 |
| 4s/6s | 9/2 | 3/0 |
Afghanistan
PowerPlay: Gurbaz, Zadran fly off the blocks
Phase score – 66/0 [RR: 11.00, 4s/6s: 9/2]
Uganda bowlers had a tough initiation to World Cup cricket after their captain Brian Masaba opted to bowl. Rahmanullah Gurbaz signalled his intentions for the night on just the second ball of the innings, from left-arm spinner Alpesh Ramjani, which he carted for a six over long-off. A stroke-filled PowerPlay followed as both Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran went hell for leather against Uganda’s bowlers. It rained fours and sixes early before the phase culminated in an 18-run over where Gurbaz hit Dinesh Nakrani for four successive boundaries. With that, Afghanistan got their highest PowerPlay score in T20 World Cups.
Middle-overs: More of the same but record missed
Phase score – 90/1 [RR: 10.00, 4s/6s: 4/3]
The two Afghanistan openers ran well and kept scoring at more than 10 an over through the middle. By the ninth over, Gurbaz brought up his 28-ball half-century while Afghanistan’s 100 came up in the 10th. Zadran soon caught up, getting his fifty off 34 balls in the 12th over. Bilal Hassan, who bowled just one over in the PowerPlay, made a woeful return as he started with five wides and a no-ball four in a 25-run over that included a six from Zadran and a four from Gurbaz – both off slower balls. Masaba however, came back and broke the opening stand with his leg spin as Zadran gave him the charge for a big shot and missed to get bowled. He departed for a 46-ball 70 and the opening pair fell 15 short of surpassing the highest opening stand in T20 World Cup history [170].
Death-overs: Uganda claw back with wickets
Phase score – 27/4 [RR: 5.40, 4s/6s: 0/0]
One wicket brought another almost immediately as Gurbaz fell four balls later – to Ramjani, when his slog sweep found Riazat Ali Shah at deep backward square leg. Masaba then struck for the second time in the game when he had Najibullah Zadran caught at deep backward square leg in the 17th over. A wicket fell in four of the five overs at the death as Afghanistan lost their way completely after the big opening stand. None of the middle-order batters could deal with the smart use of pace variations from Uganda as not one four or six was hit in this period. Masaba finished with excellent figures of 2 for 21 while medium-pacer Cosmas Kyewuta got 2 for 25.
Uganda
PowerPlay: Afghanistan pick five
Phase score – 21/5 [RR: 3.60, 4s/6s: 3/0]
Uganda opener Ronak Patel gave his team’s chase a statement start as he drove the first ball – full from Fazalhaq Farooqi – through covers for a four. On the next ball, Farooqi got the ball to swing in and disturbed Patel’s stumps. Roger Musaka got another similar peach first up, and was trapped leg before for a first-ball duck. Simon Ssesazi then top-edged an attempted slog sweep to Farooqi stationed at short fine leg, leaving Uganda reeling at 8 for 3 in the second over. The misery was relentless for Uganda as Dinesh Nakrani and Alpesh Ramjani fell to Naveen Ul Haq to lose half their side.
Middle-overs: Farooqi completes fifer
Phase score – 35/3 [RR: 3.89, 4s/6s:1/1]
Uganda didn’t quite get a move on but still managed to arrest the slide for a brief period. Riazat Ali Shah and Robinson Obuya picked up the pieces from 18 for 5 and stitched a competent stand, albeit very cautiously. Though it took time before the sixth wicket fell, the chase was meandering away. Farooqi returned to bowl in the 13th was on a hattrick for the second time in the game as he first cleaned up Riazat with a slower one and then had the captain Masaba caught behind on the next delivery. The hattrick eluded him again but Obuya became his third wicket of the over as he went for a big shot and nicked one to Gurbaz behind the stumps.
Death-overs: Rashid wraps up the big win
Phase score – 2/2 [RR: 2.00, 4s/6s: 0/0]
Uganda kept the Afghanistan leggie at bay for 22 deliveries of his spell but Rashid struck on the final two to complete the gigantic victory. First to go was Hassan, who missed his reverse-sweep on a googly and was trapped leg before. Rashid unfurled another googly at the #11 and beat his bat-pad gap to crash the stumps.
Brief Scores: Afghanistan 183/5 in 20 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 76, Ibrahim Zadran 70; Brian Masaba 2-21, Cosmas Kyewuta 2-25) beat Uganda 58 in 16 overs (Fazalhaq Farooqi 5-9, Naveen Ul Haq 2-4, Rashid Khan 2-12) by 125 runs
What next?
Uganda have just a day’s break before they face Papua New Guinea at the same venue in Guyana. Afghanistan too, play their next game at the same venue, on June 7 against New Zealand.
