Kabul – January 21, 2026: The Afghanistan National Cricket Team has put on yet another remarkable all-round performance to beat the men in maroon in the second T20I and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the e& Cup T20I Series, powered by SuperCola.
Earlier in the evening, the West
Indies won the toss and put Afghanistan in to bat first. Afghanistan lost
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (1) and Ibrahim Zadran (22) inside the first five overs, but
Darwish Rasooli (68) and Sediqullah Atal (53) shared 115 runs between them for
the 3rd wicket to get Afghanistan back into the game.
Azmatullah Omarzai provided late
impetus to the inning with a 13-ball unbeaten 26* and powered Afghanistan’s
total to 189/4 runs at the halfway stage in the game.
In return, AfghanAtalan kept the
visitors at 38/3 after 8 overs, but Shimron Hetmyer (46) and Brandon King (50)
shared a quick-fire 68-run partnership off just 33 balls to swing the back
their way. Fazal Haq Farooqi (2/28) broke the partnership and sent Hetmyer back
before he did major damage.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who had picked up
two wickets in the last two balls of his 3rd over in his opening spell, once
again returned to the attack and picked up a wicket on the very first ball of
his 4th over to complete a hat-trick. He became the 3rd Afghan bowler after
Rashid Khan and Karim Janat to pick up a hat-trick in T20Is.
He returned with figures of 4/21,
which earned him the Player of the Match award as well. He was also supported
by Azmatullah Omarzai (2/20) and Rashid Khan (1/19) throughout the bowling
inning.
Having won the first two games,
Afghanistan will go again tomorrow in the third and final game of the series
against the West Indies.