Match Summary: Afghanistan vs. Uganda
- Afghanistan 183/5
- Uganda 58 all out
- Afghanistan won by 125 runs
Uganda’s Cricket Cranes made a losing debut at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup after falling to Afghanistan by 125 runs thanks to an exceptional opening stand from Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran as well as Fazalhaq Farooqi’s five-wicket haul.
Playing on the global stage for the first time, the Ugandans gave a good account of themselves, particularly in the first innings as they kept a strong Afghan side under 190 runs.
Brian Masaba won the toss and elected to field hoping to limit Afghanistan to a chasable total but Gurbaz (76) and Zadran (70) stuck in to give Afghanistan a strong start before the pair was dismissed in quick succession by Alpesh Ramjan (1/33) and Masaba (2/21).
Cosmas Kyebuta (2/25) picket the other wickets for Uganda.
In the run chase, Fazalhaq Farooqi gave Afghanistan the perfect start as he dismissed Ronak Patel (4) and Roger Mukasa (0) off back-to-back deliveries.
Farooqi missed out on a hat-trick with Riazat Ali Shah surviving narrowly. However, it was not long before Afghanistan had their third when Mujeeb Ur Rahman dismissed Simon Ssesazi for 4.
Naveen-ul-Haq, the third bowler to be introduced in the attack, picked two wickets in his first over that left Cricket Cranes in dire straits at 18/5.
A brief stand, littered with many dots, between Riazat Ali and Robinson Obuya steadied the ship temporarily but Farooqi who finished his quota with 5/9 returned to deliver further blows before skipper Rashid Khan cleaned up Uganda’s tail.
The Cricket Cranes will be back in action on Thursday at 2:30 am (EAT) against Papua New Guinea.
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