Gurbaz 100 powers Afghanistan to huge win in first T20I in opposition to UAE
Afghanistan 203 for 3 (Gurbaz 100, Ibrahim 59, Aayan 1-26) beat UAE 131 for 4 (Aravind 70*, Farooqi 2-19, Naveen-ul-Haq 1-25) by 72 runs
Rahmanullah Gurbaz cracked his maiden T20I century, serving to Afghanistan to 203 and finally a 72-run win within the first T20I in opposition to UAE in Sharjah. The hosts had been by no means fairly within the chase after being diminished to 56 for 4 within the first ten overs.
Gurbaz’s knock of 100 got here off simply 52 deliveries, with seven fours and as many sixes. He dominated a second-wicket stand of 137 off 77 balls with Ibrahim Zadran, who was appointed the stand-in captain for the collection.
The boundaries saved flowing commonly from the bat of Gurbaz, who obtained to his fifty off 24 balls with a six off Ali Naseer within the ninth over. He went 4, 6, 4 in opposition to Basil Hameed within the sixteenth, reaching his hundred off 50 balls – additionally with a six – within the following over. Afghanistan scored 62 within the final 5 overs, with the ending touches supplied by Azmatullah Omarzai’s unbeaten cameo of 19 from eight deliveries.
Chasing a difficult rating, UAE misplaced Khalid Shah within the first over. Fazalhaq Farooqi, back in Afghanistan’s squad together with Naveen-ul-Haq after being sanctioned by the ACB earlier this week for expressing a want to be overlooked of the central contracts checklist for 2024, obtained Khalid and in addition Samal Udawaththa within the fifth over.
In between, Naveen eliminated Muhammad Waseem, earlier than Qais Ahmad obtained the fourth wicket to depart UAE needing one other 148 within the final ten overs. Vriitya Aravind fought again with 70 not out however his effort solely helped scale back the margin of defeat for the house group.
The huge win gave Afghanistan a 1-0 lead within the three-match collection, with the second match additionally happening in Sharjah on Sunday.