NEW DELHI : Azmatullah Omarzai produced a match-winning all-round display as Afghanistan kept their slim hopes of reaching the Super Eight stage of the Twenty20 World Cup alive with a five-wicket victory over the United Arab Emirates in Group D on Monday.
The result confirmed group leaders South Africa, who have six points from three matches, in the Super Eight alongside defending champions India and two-time winners West Indies.
New Zealand, on four points ahead of their final group match against bottom-placed Canada on Tuesday, remain favourites to claim the second qualifying spot from Group D.
Put in to bat at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, the UAE recovered from early setbacks to post 160-9, with Sohaib Khan top-scoring with 68.
Omarzai claimed 4-15 to restrict the UAE before returning to smash an unbeaten 40 off 21 balls as Afghanistan, semi-finalists in 2024, chased down the target with four balls to spare for their first win of this year’s tournament.
“Always important to have a win at the World Cup and let’s hope for the best in the rest of the competition,” Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan said.
“We still have a little bit of hope that we can make it to the next stage. We just need to come up with a positive mindset. Even if we don’t make it to the next round, we want to play with the same brand of cricket and make our nation proud.”
Television umpire Paul Reiffel was called into action repeatedly in the opening overs, first giving UAE opener Aryansh Sharma the benefit of the doubt after a disputed catch behind, before later ruling him out for a duck.
Off-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman removed UAE captain Muhammad Waseem lbw for 10, a decision upheld on review, while Sohaib survived an lbw call early in his innings after replays showed the ball would have narrowly missed leg stump.
Sohaib and Alishan Sharafu (40) added 84 for the fourth wicket to stabilise the innings before Omarzai ended the partnership, finishing with four sixes and six fours in his knock.
Afghanistan lost opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the first over of the chase, but Ibrahim Zadran (53) and Darwish Rasooli (33) kept them on course before Omarzai sealed victory with a boundary off Junaid Siddique.
