Heartbreak for UAE as AFG eke out last-over win

Afghanistan pipped UAE in a thriller in the final league game of the tri-series by four runs to leave the hosts winless at the end. UAE needed 17 off the last over, and scored 12 off the first three balls before Fareed Ahmad Malik bowled two dots and scalped Asif Khan off the last ball to leave the hosts in agony.

The chase of 171 began with Alishan Sharafu, who scored 68 on the previous night, hitting a cracking boundary. UAE had the perfect PowerPlay as Sharafu and Muhammad Waseem hit boundaries regularly to keep the scoring rate going. They hit four boundaries and three sixes in the first six as UAE raced to 54/0 at the end of this phase. Unfortunately for the hosts, Noor Ahmad opened the door for Afghanistan with the wicket of Sharafu for 27.

Noor continued to bamboozle the UAE batters and his trickery resulted in added pressure from the other end. Waseem moved into the 40s as Karim Janat palmed the ball over the ropes but was caught off the next ball to depart on 44. Muhammad Zohaib was the next to go after finding the fence twice as the visitors continued to chip away.

Asif walked out and struggled against the Afghan spinners. It looked like he was going nowhere as he was on 7 off 13 at the end of the 17th over. But once pace was brought back, he found his timing again. With 43 needed off the last three, he first hit 16 runs off the 18th which included two fours and a six before beating long-off for four in the next over. Harshit Kaushik from the other end chipped in with a four and a six to bring the equation down to 17 off the last over. UAE would have fancied their chances with 5 required off 3 but some clever death bowling from Fareed sealed the game for the visitors.

Earlier, Afghanistan's total of 170/4 was set up by a 98-run opening stand from Ibrahim Zadran (48) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (40). UAE missed a run-out chance and dropped a catch to let Afghanistan off the hook, early on. Gurbaz and Ibrahim ran well and pounced on any lack of control by the UAE bowlers. The duo brought up the 50 partnership in the 8th over. Ibrahim then switched gears, bringing out the horizontal bat shots before dancing down the track and hitting legspinner Muhammad Farooq down the ground for six. Gurbaz fell at the end of the 12th over but after providing a solid foundation for the visitors.

Ibrahim fell a ball later to Haider Ali which brought two new batters to the crease. Mohammad Ishaq struggled in his short stay at the crease but it was Janat who played a decent cameo of 28 off 14 (1X4, 3X6) which took Afghanistan close to 150 before Haider dismissed him. Gulbadin Naib and Azmatullah Omarazai chipped in with crucial boundaries towards the end which proved to be just enough in the end, to claim victory.

Brief Scores: Afghanistan 171/5 in 20 overs (Ibrahim Zadran 48, Rahmanullah Gurbaz 40*; Haider Ali 2-23, Simranjeet Singh 1-24) beat UAE 166/5 in 20 overs (Muhammad Waseem 44, Asif Khan 40; Sharafuddin Ashraf 1-20, Noor Ahmad 1-23) by 4 runs