Dubai: Shaiman Anwar’s half century went in vain as UAE lost to Afghanistan by five wickets in the ICC World Cup qualifiers in Harare.
UAE won the toss and elected to bat but produced a poor batting performance and crashed to 177 in 43 overs. If not for pacer Mohammad Naveed’s quick 45 runs down the order, the UAE would have been bowled out for even a lesser total. Anwar’s 64 came off 87 balls with four boundaries and a six, while Naveed’s 45 came off just 20 balls with seven boundaries and two sixes.
UAE batsmen found Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan and pacer Dawlat Zadran too hot to handle. Khan bagged five wickets for just 41 runs while Zadran took three wickets for 45 runs.
Afghanistan raced to the target through their opener Gulbadin Naib’s unbeaten 74 and Najibullah Zadran’s unconquered 63 and won the match with 93 balls to spare.
UAE failed to capitalise on batting first as Zadran dismissed skipper Rohan Mustafa for 4 and one-drop Ghulam Shabber for 6. Mohammad Boota too did not last long and got bowled to 16-year-old off-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rehman.
Opener Chirag Suri and Anwar put on 41 runs for fourth wicket before Suri got caught behind to give Khan his first wicket. Khan then trapped Mohammad Usman leg before for 13. Zadran, coming in for a second spell, had Ahmad Raza caught behind for 4. Anwar fell in the 41st over at the score on 156 to Khan. Naveed fell as the ninth batsmen to another Khan delivery.
Chasing the score, Afghanistan lost their hard-hitting opener Mohammad Shehzad, trapped leg before by Qadeer Ahmad for 4. Naveed also clean bowled Rahmat Shah for 16. Naveed and Qadeer struck again but Naib and Zadran took the game away by lifting their team from 54 for 5 to the target.
Brief scores:
Afghanistan bt UAE by 5 wickets. UAE 177 in 43 overs (Chirag Suri 22, Shaiman Anwar 64, Mohammad Naveed 45, Dawlat Zadran 3 for 45, Rashid Khan 5 for 41) Afghanistan 178 for 5 34.3 overs (Gulbadin Naib 74n.o, Najibullah Zadran’s 63n.o, Mohammad Naveed 2 for 37, Qadeer Ahmad 2 for 38) Man of the match: Gulbadin Naib.
