Kabul: September 5, 2025: AfghanAtalan, banking on a fine all-round performance, went past the UAE by 4 runs in a nail-biting encounter to complete their third successive victory in the ongoing Tri-Nation Series 2025.
Coming into the game,
AfghanAtalan had already secured a berth in the final and went into the game
with six changes, resting all the big guns, including the skipper Rashid Khan.
Gulbadin Naib, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Fareed Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Mohammad
Ishaq, and the debutant Abdullah Ahmadzai were drafted into the XI.
Ibrahim Zadran, Rashid Khan’s
deputy and the stand-in captain for this game, won the toss and opted to bat
first. He, alongside Rahmanullah Gurbaz, shared 98 runs for the first wicket,
both scoring 48 and 40 runs respectively. Karim Janat (28) and Gulbadin Naib
(20) chipped in with crucial cameos to push the scoreline to 170/4 at the
halfway stage in the game.
In reply, the UAE started off
extremely promising, with the openers sharing a 65-run opening stand.
AfghanAtalan kept striking at regular intervals, but runs kept coming thick and
fast for the home side, and once they found themselves requiring 27 off the
final two overs, 17 off the final 6 deliveries, and then only 5 runs off the
final 3 deliveries.
They started to believe that they
could take this home, but Fareed Ahmad nailed two back-to-back wide Yorkers to
bring the equation to 5 off the final delivery. The UAE needed a 6 to win the
game; a four would have taken the game to a super over, and anything else off a
legitimate delivery would have gone Afghanistan's way, and that’s exactly what
happened.
Fareed Ahmad bowled a length
delivery on middle and off, and Asif Khan, batting on an unbeaten 40*, slogged
across the line, got plenty of that, sending it miles up in the air, but
straight to Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the deep to fall short only by 4 runs.
A terrific and mouth-watering
game of cricket ended in favor of Afghanistan, who went on to register their
third successive victory in the series.
Ibrahim Zadran, the stand-in
skipper, was awarded the player of the match for the second consecutive time in
the series, this time for his well-made 48 runs in the first inning.
Afghanistan will now lock horns
with Pakistan in the Grand Finale of the series on Sunday, September 7, at the
same venue, the iconic Sharjah Cricket Stadium.