Azmatullah Omarzai’s all-round brilliance powers Afghanistan to first win

New Delhi: Azmatullah Omarzai’s incisive spell of 4-15 and an unbeaten cameo of 40 off 21 balls powered Afghanistan to their first win of the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup through a five-wicket victory over the UAE at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Monday.

On a pitch which had a bit of moisture, Omarzai varied his line and length cleverly to dismantle the lower half of the UAE’s batting card, while Mujeeb Ur Rahman chipped in with two wickets and Rashid Khan bowled a tidy spell to keep the UAE to 160/9.

After early setbacks, UAE’s innings was steadied by a fluent third-wicket stand of 84 runs between Alishan Sharafu (40) and Sohaib Khan (68). The duo countered spin with measured aggression and gave the innings a sense of momentum.

Sohaib’s 68, his second successive fifty at this venue, came off 47 balls, laced with five fours and two sixes. His effort ensured that the UAE touched 160 despite four wickets falling in the last five overs.

Brief Scores: UAE 160/9 in 20 overs (Sohaib Khan 68, Alishan Sharafu 40; Azmatullah Omarzai 4-15, Mujeeb Ur Rahman 2-31) lost to Afghanistan 162/5 in 19.2 overs (Ibrahim Zadran 53, Azmatullah Omarzai 40 not out; Junaid Siddique 2-23, Muhammad Arfan 2-30) by five wickets. IANS

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