Afghanistan vs UAE Highlights, T20 World Cup 2026: Afghanistan beat UAE by 5 wickets to clinch first win

Simranjeet Singh to Sediqullah Atal, Starts around the wicket, does Simranjeet. Bowls it flat on the pads and Atal tucks it away to short mid-wicket.

Simranjeet Singh has been introduced into the attack right after the Powerplay.

Muhammad Arfan to Sediqullah Atal, Full again, but wide outside off, squeezed away behind point for a single by Atal. Just 2 runs and a wicket off the final over of the Powerplay, and Afghanistan are 41/2.

Muhammad Arfan to Sediqullah Atal, BEAUTY! Fuller and on middle, Arfan presents the seam well and the ball just cuts across the left-hander after pitching. Atal ends up playing well inside the line as the ball breezes past the outside edge.

Muhammad Arfan to Sediqullah Atal, Good-length delivery, lands it on off and gets it to just nibble away. Sediqullah Atal gets a stride across and shoulders arms.

DRINKS! Not much between the two sides here with that wicket. Afghanistan were stitching up a decent partnership, but United Arab Emirates have got a wicket at the right time here. The asking rate is not that much of a problem but the Afghan middle order has been a bit inconsistent, and the UAE will want to put even more pressure on them by putting the squeeze in the middle overs. Also, Sediqullah Atal comes out to the middle now.

Muhammad Arfan to Gulbadin Naib, OUT! CAUGHT! Straight to the fielder and that is such a soft dismissal. Muhammad Arfan bowls it back of a length and offers width outside the off stump. Gulbadin Naib gets up on his toes and slaps it straight to point. Harshit Kaushik takes a comfortable catch around his chest and Naib has to depart in a disappointing fashion. The 40-run stand also comes to an end between Naib and Zadran.

Muhammad Arfan to Ibrahim Zadran, Slower one, bowled short and outside off. Ibrahim Zadran leans across and gets inside the line, playing a controlled pull through backward square leg for one run.

Muhammad Arfan to Ibrahim Zadran, Arfan begins on a good length and attacks the top of off. Zadran pats it back down the deck.

A double bowling change here for the UAE. Muhammad Arfan comes into the attack now.

Muhammad Jawadullah to Gulbadin Naib, FOUR! Nicely done! Muhammad Jawadullah serves this full and just outside off. Gulbadin Naib opens the face of his bat and drives it with superb timing through covers for a boundary. 12 runs off the over, 30 in the last two.

Muhammad Jawadullah to Ibrahim Zadran, On a length and around off, Ibrahim Zadran guides it to deep point for one.

Muhammad Jawadullah to Gulbadin Naib, Short of a length and on middle and leg, Gulbadin Naib gets cramped up and mistimes his pull towards deep square leg for a run.

Muhammad Jawadullah to Gulbadin Naib, SIX! Gulbadin Naib joins the party now! Fuller delivery, on middle and off, right in the slot. Gulbadin Naib clears his front leg and muscles it over the wide long on fence for his first biggie.

Muhammad Jawadullah to Gulbadin Naib, Good length and on middle, Gulbadin Naib gets behind the line of it and blocks it out.

Muhammad Jawadullah to Gulbadin Naib, Back of a length and around off, Gulbadin Naib has a heave across the line but gets an underedge on the bounce to the keeper.

Time for a bowling change? Yes, indeed. Muhammad Jawadullah comes in to replace Junaid Siddique.

Haider Ali to Ibrahim Zadran, FOUR! 18 runs off the over! This is short again and outside off. Ibrahim Zadran uses his quick hands and cuts it hard through backward point for a blazing boundary.

Haider Ali to Ibrahim Zadran, SIX! Just the over Afghanistan wanted here. Floated, full and on middle, Ibrahim Zadran goes down for the sweep. He gets it from the top edge but it goes all the way over the deep square leg fence for a biggie. 

Haider Ali to Ibrahim Zadran, Drags his length back and on off, Ibrahim Zadran stabs it out to extra cover.

Haider Ali to Ibrahim Zadran, FOUR! Finds the gap this time! Flatter, short and around off. Ibrahim Zadran backs away to make some room and slams it through extra covers for another boundary.

Haider Ali to Ibrahim Zadran, FOUR! Up and over! Tossed up, full and on middle, Ibrahim Zadran skips down the track again to get closer to the pitch of the ball. He lifts it off the bottom half of the bat but gets enough power to send it over mid on for a one-bounce four.

Haider Ali to Ibrahim Zadran, Flighted, full and around off, Ibrahim Zadran uses his feet and drives it firmly but straight to extra cover. He is not able to find the gaps here.

Junaid Siddique to Ibrahim Zadran, Pitched up and on middle, Ibrahim Zadran works it wide of mid on and scampers across for a single. The fielder misses his shy at the bowler's end and a direct hit would have been interesting here.

Junaid Siddique to Ibrahim Zadran, FOUR! Nice shot! Junaid Siddique serves this a bit too full, on middle. Ibrahim Zadran presents the full face of the bat and lofts it stylishly over the bowler's head for the first boundary of the chase.

Junaid Siddique to Ibrahim Zadran, Back of a length and on off, Ibrahim Zadran punches it to short cover. Four dots in a row now.

Junaid Siddique to Ibrahim Zadran, An appeal for caught behind now, but not given again. Hard length and on middle, angling in again. Ibrahim Zadran swings across the line but misses. It brushes the back leg on its way to the keeper. Muhammad Waseem has a chat with his keeper and bowler but does not take the review. Replays confirm that the ball went off the back leg and Junaid knew that as well.

Junaid Siddique to Ibrahim Zadran, Shout for LBW, but turned down! Good length and on middle, jags back in sharply. Ibrahim Zadran looks to flick it away but misses and gets hit on the pads.

Junaid Siddique to Ibrahim Zadran, Just short! Fuller delivery, angling into the pads. Ibrahim Zadran clips it off the inner half of the bat. It flies towards short fine, but drops just in front of Muhammad Jawadullah, who does well to get his body behind to stop the ball.

Haider Ali to Gulbadin Naib, Pushed through quicker, full and on middle, angling in, Gulbadin Naib turns it to the leg side. Two really good overs from UAE!

Haider Ali to Gulbadin Naib, Tossed up, full and on off, Gulbadin Naib knocks it to to the left of the bowler.

Haider Ali to Ibrahim Zadran, Drags his length back a bit, on middle, Ibrahim Zadran uses his feet and drives it on the up to long off for a run.

Haider Ali to Ibrahim Zadran, Arm ball, short and on middle, angling in sharply. Ibrahim Zadran backs away and punches it to short cover.

Haider Ali to Gulbadin Naib, Flatter, short and on middle, Gulbadin Naib pats it towards long on for a single.

Haider Ali to Gulbadin Naib, Haider Ali begins with a floater, full and on middle, Gulbadin Naib prods forward and blocks it out.

It will be spin from the other end as Haider Ali has been handed the ball.

Junaid Siddique to Ibrahim Zadran, Fuller this time and on off, Ibrahim Zadran drills it but finds short cover this time. Just 2 runs and a big wicket from the first over!

Junaid Siddique to Ibrahim Zadran, Lands this on a good length and around off, Ibrahim Zadran plants his front foot and drives it on the up but gets no timing. It rolls away towards extra cover.

Junaid Siddique to Ibrahim Zadran, WIDE! Bangs in a bouncer but down the leg side, Ibrahim Zadran tries to hook it away but misses. Wided.

Junaid Siddique to Gulbadin Naib, Afghanistan are underway in the chase! Short of a length and on middle and leg. Gulbadin Naib gets inside the line of it and pulls it to deep square leg for a single.

Junaid Siddique to Gulbadin Naib, Pitched up and around off, Gulbadin Naib drills it towards mid off.

What a contrast for Gurbaz from the previous game as he departs for a duck. Gulbadin Naib walks in at number 3.

Junaid Siddique to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, OUT! TAKEN IN THE DEEP! Fifer in the last game and Junaid Siddique strikes gold in his first over here. Fuller delivery and just outside off. Rahmanullah Gurbaz gives the charge to the bowler and looks to go over covers but his bat turns in his hands upon contact due to the extra bounce. He ends up slicing it in the air towards deep backward point, where Sohaib Khan comes forward and takes a good catch. Gurabaz falls for a duck, and Afghanistan are 0/1, chasing 161 runs.

Junaid Siddique to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Hint of movement! Junaid Siddique starts with a fuller delivery, on off, shaping away. Rahmanullah Gurbaz strides out and drives it to short cover.

We are back for the all-important chase. The umpires are out in the middle and so are the players of United Arab Emirates. It will be the usual duo of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran to open the innings for Afghanistan. Junaid Siddique is all set to start proceedings with the ball. Let's play...

... The Run Chase ...

The UAE's bowlers need to step up - United Arab Emirates have a decent score on board but it seems like a middling one and their bowlers will need to get wickets in the Powerplay to set things up. Talking a bit about their batting, Muhammad Waseem fell early once again and Aryansh Sharma, who was the anchor against Canada also faltered, leaving UAE at 13/2 in just 2 overs. Sohaib Khan continued his stellar work from the last game and built an 84-run stand with Alishan Sharafu, setting things up nicely for the second half. However, the UAE kept losing wickets throughout the last 10 overs and only Sohaib could manage to score big. In the end, they will feel, they are 15-20 runs short of where they wanted to be. Right then, 161 seems like a pretty straightforward score to chase down but with the wicket basking in the sun, it might just start to turn a bit more. Afghanistan will look to attack in the Powerplay and get ahead of the required rate, whereas the UAE will hope the likes of Junaid Siddique and co make early inroads. Stay tuned as the chase is up next.

Azmat's day out with the ball - Azmatullah Omarzai is one of the most premier all-rounders in the world and once again, on a pitch that didn't aid the spinners much, he has stamped his authority with his immaculate lengths. His four-fer really has been the difference for Afghanistan but even Mujeeb Ur Rahman showed great wicket-taking ability in different phases of the game. The likes of Noor Ahmad and Ziaur Rahman, who came in place of Fazalhaq Farooqi today, were off color and were put away with ease. Rashid Khan did bowl a decent spell in the middle overs and ensured that the batters didn't get any freebies. All in all, Afghanistan will feel they have made a fine comeback.

An innings of two halves - United Arab Emirates, even after a tough start, managed 93/2 in the first 10 overs of their innings. However, they have just managed to score 67 runs in the next 10, whilst losing 7 wickets as well. It was a bit topsy-turvy from start to end but at the halftime interval, Afghanistan will be very pleased as they have restricted the UAE to just 160 runs.

Ziaur Rahman to Junaid Siddique, OUT! SIDDIQUE IS RUN OUT! Ziaur Rahman nails the yorker again, on off, Junaid Siddique forces it down to long off for a run. He is very late to turn around for the second run, and Rashid Khan is quick to throw it to the keeper's end, where Rahmanullah Gurbaz does the rest. Junaid is nowhere near the crease. United Arab Emirates finish on 160/9.