Afghanistan beat UAE by 11 runs

Afghanistan Sinks UAE In T20:

Afghanistan stepped up in first T20 match and defeated UAE by 11 runs at ICC Academy, Dubai. Afghanistan won the first T20 match and currently lead three T20 match series 1-0. Credit goes to Afghan debutant Karim Janat for his all round performance. Karim scored 25 runs and took 3 wickets in his first match for Afghanistan and was awarded Player of the Match award. Afghanistan sinks UAE in first T20 match with Najibullah and Janat making the headlines.

Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat first. Opening stand of 46 runs followed by 41 runs for 5th wicket partnership did the trick for touring team. Mohammad Shahzad scored the highest runs for Afghanistan with 38 runs under his name, Najibullah unbeaten 31 runs from just 10 balls ensured Afghanistan can put challenging total for host to defend and win the game. Afghanistan scored 161 runs for loss of 6 wickets at a run rate of 8.05 in 20 overs.

UAE chase didn't start well, host team lost their first wicket for 26 runs and twin wickets for score of 41. 4th wicket partnership of 65 runs provided a hope for UAE team. Scoring not enough boundaries put pressure back on the team and even despite not losing too many wickets, scoring runs was getting harder and harder. 27 runs were required in the last overs, which was cut down to 11 after Usman struck 2 sixes. UAE scored 150 runs for loss of 7 wickets in 20 overs and lost the 1st T20 match by 11 runs. United Arab Emirates will have to step up and try to win 2nd T20 match in order to stay alive in this tournament. One more loss means they are out of the series and Afghanistan will lift the T20 trophy.

Credit goes to Karim Janat whose medium pace bowling provided early breakthrough for Afghanistan team. Janat broke opening stand and then removed two batsman in space of three balls. UAE team couldn't truly recovered from these breakthroughs. Afghanistan needs one more win to take trophy home with them. Two more T20 matches to go in this T20 series at Dubai.

United Arab Emirates Squad: Amjad Javed (captain), Mohammed Shanil, Ahmed Raza, Shaiman Anwar, Qadeer Ahmed, Imran Haider, Mohammed Qasim, Shehzad Manna, Mohammed Naveed, Mohammed Shabber, Adnan Mufti, Mohammed Usman, Rameez Shahzad, Rohan Mustafa, Amjad Gul, Usman Mushtaq, Kamran Shahzad

Afghanistan Squad: Asghar Stanikzai (captain), Mohammad Shahzad (wicket keeper), Najeeb Zadran, Najeeb Taraki, Usman Ghani, Hazrat Zazai, Samiullah Shinwari, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Gulbadin Naib, Aftab Alam, Hamza Hotak, Fareed Malik and Rashid Khan.

T20 Series Fixture:
2nd T20 match will be played on Dec 16, 2016 at Dubai International Stadium, UAE (10:00 am GMT - 02:00 pm Local)

3rd T20 match will be played on Dec 18, 2016 at ICC Academy, UAE at (09:00 am GMT - 01:00 pm LOCAL)

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