T20 World Cup 2021, Afghanistan vs Scotland: Who won yesterday's match?
Afghanistan trampled Scotland by 130 runs in Match 17 of the T20 World Cup 2021 in Sharjah on Monday. As the margin of victory indicates, it was one-way traffic all the way as Afghanistan bossed the Scots.
Batting first after winning the toss, Afghanistan put up an imposing 190 for 4 on the board. Mujeeb Ur Rahman (5/20) and Rashid Khan (4/9) then crashed through Scotland batters’ insecure defense as the chasing side folded for 60 in 10.2 overs.
Afghanistan with a comprehensive victory 🔥
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Off-spinner Mujeeb stunned Scotland by claiming three wickets in the fourth over of the innings. Scotland got off to a decent start, reaching 27 for no loss after three overs. George Munsey reverse-swept Mohammad Nabi for a four and the six in the first over, the latter coming off a top edge. Kyle Coetzer hit two more fours in the third over sent down by Naveen-ul-Haq.
Mujeeb, however, ripped through Scotland in his second over. Coetzer was castled with a full ball that zipped through and beat the batter’s drive. Calum MacLeod (0) was trapped first-ball, playing all around an off-break. Mujeeb then got to spin one past Richie Berrington’s (0) bat and caught him in front of the stumps. Both MacLeod and Berrington reviewed their decisions but the umpire’s call stayed.
Scotland lost two more before the end of the powerplay as Afghanistan’s domination in the game continued. Mohammad Shahzad pulled off a brilliant diving catch to send back Matthew Cross (0) off Naveen-ul-Haq’s bowling. Cross edged a length delivery angled into the batter in the channel and Shahzad flung to his right to complete a stunning take.
What an acrobatic effort from Shahzad!
He flies to his right and takes a brilliant catch which brings an end to Matt Cross' knock.
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Munsey managed a six off Mujeeb, connecting a sweep over deep square leg. However, he perished very next ball, castled by one that zipped through as he attempted a cut. The off-spinner completed a five-for with a quicker one that cleaned up a clueless Mark Watt (1). In between, Rashid Khan helped himself to a wicket, trapping Michael Leask (0) leg before with a googly.
Chris Greaves (12) missed his sweep and was pinned in front of the stumps by Rashid as Scotland were eight down in the 9th over. Josh Davey (4) tried to reverse-swat his way out of trouble but, like many others before him, was trapped in front. The ended came in expected fashion as Brad Wheal (0) was knocked over by Rashid to complete Afghanistan’s thorough domination.
Belligerent Afghanistan post 190 for 4 batting first
Afghanistan's batters put up a sizzling display, scoring 190 for 4 after winning the toss and batting first against Scotland. Afghanistan dominated from the very start as openers Hazratullah Zazai (44 off 30) and Mohammad Shahzad (22 off 15) added a swift 54. Rahmanullah Gurbaz (46 off 37) and Najibullah Zadran (59 off 34) continued the good work as Scotland’s bowlers took a pounding.
The Afghan batters were on the charge from the word go. In the second over of the innings, Shahzad and Zazai smashed a six each off Michael Leask. The first six was smacked to long-on and the second slog-swept over midwicket. The fifth over bowled by Brad Wheal went for 16 as the openers combined to hit two fours and a six.
Afghanistan brought up their 50 in the last over of the powerplay, which also saw Safyaan Sharif breaking the opening stand. Shahzad tried to clear the boundary with a whip but holed out to deep midwicket. Zazai continued to take on the bowlers, slog-sweeping Chris Greaves for another maximum over midwicket. He fell short of a fifty though as left-arm spinner Mark Watt got through his defence with a quicker one.
Hazratullah Zazai misses out on his half-century.
His blistering knock of 44 comes to an end with Watt getting the scalp.
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After the departure of the openers, Gurbaz and Zadran kept finding the boundaries on a regular basis. Rahmanullah slog-swept Greaves for a six over square-leg before depositing Josh Davey over the midwicket ropes. Zadran slapped a 100-metre six off Sharif, whacking a short ball over wide long-on. In Wheal’s last over, the 17th of the innings, Rahmanullah cleared the boundary twice on the on-side, opening his arms with ease.
Gurbaz’ innings ended in the penultimate over when he edged a low full-toss from Davey towards mid-off. Zadran raised his 50 off 30 balls. He dispatched the penultimate ball of the innings from Sharif over the roof at long-on before perishing to the last ball. At the other end, Mohammad Nabi came in and helped himself to a couple of fours. Davey (1/41) and Wheal (0/42) suffered most at the hands of Afghanistan’s batters.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz perishes after playing a handy knock of 46 đź‘Š
Josh Davey gets the wicket as skipper Coetzer proves to be a safe pair of hands.
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Afghanistan vs Scotland: Who won Player of the Match in yesterday’s T20 World Cup 2021 match?
It was all Afghanistan, first with the bat and then with the ball.
Zadran top-scored with 59 and the entire Scotland team could only manage one run more. Zazai and Gurbaz chipped in with impressive 40s. Mujeeb was unplayable on the day as he claimed 5 for 20. Rashid was introduced late in the innings, but he still helped himself to four scalps.
Mujeeb was named Player of the Match for his fantastic five-fer.