Afghanistan have done themselves a great favour by upping their NRR should it come down to that for semi-final qualification. Dew was evident today but it hardly mattered to Rashid and Co. who bowled beautifully. Barbados gave a Super Over yesterday. The action shifts to Barbados again as England and Scotland kick-off their campaign in a few hours time. Can defending champs get off to a great start like Afghanistan or do Scotland have an upset plan? Rest up and join us on the ride to find out. See you soon!
Rashid Khan | Afghanistan captain: This is the kind of start we wanted as a team. We have worked hard for the last 2-3 weeks. Great effort overall. Proud feeling to be leading the team in a World Cup. Tough games coming up, so it's about keeping it simple and giving your 100%. So many options in all phases of the game with this line-up. Lucky to have the bowlers who can bowl at any stage. 2023 World Cup gave us so much confidence and the belief that we can beat any team. It's about keeping it simple and focusing on our game rather than thinking about the opponents. Big game coming up against New Zealand. For me more than the result how and what sort of effort we put in will matter more.
Brian Masaba | Uganda captain: Special moment to hear our national anthem and see our flag at the World Cup. It's a moment that I will cherish for the rest of my life. They got a pretty good start. It was about fighting back and I thought we pulled it back pretty well at the end with the ball. Credit to them for playing well. One of the top bowling sides. Good seamers and quality spinners. We will look to bounce back better against PNG
Fazalhaq Farooqi | Player of the Match: Congratulations to all Afghan fans on the victory. (On missing hat-trick) I have missed a hat-trick 7-8 times in my career. It’s not something in my control but I will try better in the future. (Plans today) I tried to bowl into the wicket and see what happens. It swung from the beginning and later on I tried to bowl slower since it wasn’t coming onto the bat that nicely. Playing franchise cricket surely helps. When you play big games with big players, it helps you coming into a tournament like this. (Translated from Pashto)
Stats round-up by Roshan Gede
Five-fors for Afghanistan in T20Is 5/3 - Rashid Khan vs Ireland, Greater Noida, 2017 5/9 - Fazalhaq Farooqi vs Uganda, Guyana, 2024 5/11 - Karim Janat vs West Indies, Lucknow, 2019 5/13 - Samiullah Shinwari vs Kenya, Sharjah, 2013 5/20 - Mujeeb Ur Rahman vs Scotland, Sharjah, 2021 T20 WC 5/27 - Rashid Khan vs Ireland, Dehradun, 2019
Best bowling returns in Men’s T20 WC 6/8 - Ajantha Mendis (SL) vs ZIM, Hambantota, 2012 5/3 - Rangana Herath (SL) vs NZ, Chattogram, 2014 5/6 - Umar Gul (PAK) vs NZ, The Oval, 2009 5/9 - Fazalhaq Farooqi (AFG) vs UGA, Guyana, 2024 5/10 - Sam Curran (ENG) vs AFG, Perth, 2022
Biggest victory margins in Men’s T20 WC 172 runs - SL vs KEN, Johannesburg, 2007 130 runs - AFG vs SCOT, Sharjah, 2021 130 runs - SA vs SCOT, The Oval, 2009 125 runs - AFG vs UGA, Guyana, 2024 116 runs - ENG vs AFG, Colombo RPS, 2012 This was also the second biggest win for Afghanistan in all T20Is after the aforementioned game against Scotland in 2021.
Lowest all-out totals in Men’s T20 WC 39 - NED vs SL, Chattogram, 2014 44 - NED vs SL, Sharjah, 2021 55 - WI vs ENG, Dubai, 2021 58 - UGA vs AFG, Guyana, 2024 60 - NZ vs SL, Chattogram, 2014 60 - SCOT vs AFG, Sharjah, 2021
23:49 Local Time, 03:49 GMT, 09:19 IST: Afghanistan have outclassed Uganda quite easily.
15.6
Rashid Khan to Ssenyondo, out Bowled!! Knocked him over! Ssenyondo b Rashid Khan 0(1)
Rashid Khan to Ssenyondo, THATS OUT!! Bowled!!
Henry Ssenyondo, right handed bat, comes to the crease
15.5
Rashid Khan to Bilal Hassan, out Lbw!! Bilal Hassan lbw b Rashid Khan 8(16) [4s-1]
Rashid Khan to Bilal Hassan, THATS OUT!! Lbw!!
This looks out LBW and given. Didn't look like bat this time. Impact definitely in line
15.4
Rashid Khan to Bilal Hassan, no run
15.3
Rashid Khan to Bilal Hassan, no run, advances and gets hit on the pad
15.2
Rashid Khan to Bilal Hassan, 2 runs, advances and drags this slog to deep mid-wicket
15.1
Rashid Khan to Bilal Hassan, no run
Given out LBW this time
Great spell from Fazalhaq Farooqi - 4-0-9-5
14.6
Fazalhaq Farooqi to Bilal Hassan, 1 run, full and outside off stiump, Bilal drives through cover
Afghanistan
Uganda
