Kabul – February 16, 2026: Azmatullah Omarzai 4/15 (4) & 40* (21) starred with the bat and ball, whereas Ibrahim Zadran scored his 15th half-century in T20Is as they helped Afghanistan register their first victory in this year’s T20 World Cup.
Earlier in the morning, Afghanistan opted to bowl first and struck in
the first two overs to reduce the UAE to 13/2 after two overs. The UAE batters
put on a decent partnership of 84 runs for the third wicket to take the game
back towards their side.
Azmatullah Omarzai (4/15) came back and struck twice in his third over
and once again in his last over to finish with terrific figures of 4/15 off his
four overs, as he swung the game back to the Afghanistan side. Rashid Khan also
bagged a wicket to complete 700 wickets in T20 cricket.
Rashid Khan becomes the first player in T20 history to reach the
remarkable milestone of 700 wickets. He achieved this milestone in his 512th
T20 inning, banking on an impressive economy rate of 6.59 and an excellent
average of 18.50, with his best bowling figures recorded at 6/17 in a single inning.
In reply, Afghanistan lost Rahmanullah Gurbaz (0) in the second
delivery of the 2nd inning. Ibrahim Zadran first put on a 40-run partnership
with Gulbadin Naib (13) before a 30-run stand for the 3rd wicket with
Sediqullah Atal (30) to finally fall for 53 runs after scoring his 15th T20I
half-century.
Darwish Rasooli played a crucial cameo of 33 runs and provided a great
hand to Azmatullah Omarzai, who backed up his excellent bowling figures with
exceptional batting fireworks by scoring an unbeaten knock of 40* runs off just
21 deliveries to hand Afghanistan its first victory in the ICC Men’s T20 World
Cup 2026.
Azmatullah Omarzai, who had an excellent day in Delhi, was awarded as
the Player of the Match.
Afghanistan will now prepare to face Canada in their last Group D match
on Thursday, February 19, in Chennai.