Afghanistan demolish Uganda in winning start

Afghanistan got their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign off to a flying start after they demolished Uganda by 125 runs in Guyana yesterday. The Afghan win margin is the fourth highest in the history of the tournament.

The Asian side’s win was set up by a massive 154-run opening stand by Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran which was backed by a maiden T20I fifer from left-arm quick Fazalhaq Farooqi.

Gurbaz and Zadran were merciless against an inexperienced Ugandan bowling attack, racing to 66 in the Powerplay, after Afghanistan were inserted.

Gurbaz was the one who kicked things off as he unleashed a flurry of big hits. Zadran soon joined the party, crunching four consecutive fours against left-arm medium pacer Dinesh Nakrani in the sixth over of the innings.

The Afghan opening pair soon recorded the second-highest opening stand in T20 World Cups, before Uganda bowlers reeled in a string of wickets to restrict their opponents to 183 for five.
Uganda’s response started on the wrong foot with Farooqi striking twice in the first over. The left-arm quick returned in the 13th over with another double blow to kill Uganda’s chase. 

Farooqi completed the fifer - his first in T20Is - by having Robinson Obuya caught behind.

Chief scores: 
Afghanistan: 183/5 in 20 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 76, Ibrahim Zadran 70, Brian Masaba 2/21, Cosmas Kyewuta 2/25) 
Uganda: 58 in 16 overs (Fazalhaq Farooqi 5/9, Naveen-Ul-Haq 2/4, Rashid Khan 2/12). Agencies