GUYANA: Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran’s fiery half-centuries, followed by Fazalhaq Farooqi’s five-fer helped Afghanistan thump Uganda by 125 runs in the fifth match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 here at Providence Stadium on Monday. Uganda, playing their first-ever T20 World Cup match, bowled out for a meagre 58 in 16 overs, while chasing 184.

Farooqi picked back-to-back wickets in the first over of the innings but missed the hat-trick as Riazat Ali Shah survived the yorker.Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Naveen-ul-Haq also joined the fray, with the latter taking two wickets in the fifth over, reducing Uganda to 21-5 in the powerplay. Riazat Ali Shah (11) and Robinson Obuya (14) then added 29 runs from 45 balls for the sixth wicket before Farooqi returned to the attack and broke the stand. Farooqi once again missed the hat-trick after dismissing Brian Misaba on the next ball. However, he added another wicket to his tally in the next over, registering his first five-fer in T20Is.Afghanistan’s captain wrapped up the innings as he claimed wickets on consecutive balls in the 16th over, earning a massive victory for his side. Farooqi returned with figures of 5-7, while Naveen-ul-Haq and Rashid Khan registered 2-4 and 2-12 respectively. Earlier, the Afghan openers gave their side a flying start after they were invited to bat first by Uganda, scoring 66 runs in the powerplay.Gurbaz took Uganda bowlers head-on from the word go and completed his half-century in 28 balls, while Zadran took 34 balls to reach the milestone. They raised 154 runs for the first wicket before Uganda skipper Brian Masaba removed Zadran in the 15th over. Zadran scored 70 runs from 46 balls with the help of ten boundaries, including one six. Gurbaz also fell four balls later as he was caught by Riazat Ali Shah off Alpesh Ramjani after scoring a 45-ball 76, which featured four boundaries and as many sixes.

Uganda bowlers did not allow Afghanistan to make a comeback as they squeezed the run-flow. Afghanistan scored only 27 runs and lost three wickets in the last five overs without any boundary. Mohammad Nabi remained the only notable scorer after openers with an unbeaten 14 off 16, dragging the team’s total to 183-5 in 20 overs. For Uganda, Misaba and Cosmas Kyewuta bagged two wickets each.