Before the start of the match, one moment gathered maximum eyeballs as Afghanistan skipper Mohammad Nabi broke down when the national anthem was played. Tears were flowing through his eyes while singing the Afghanistan national anthem. His fellow teammates later consoled him.
Notably, Nabi was appointed Afghanistan’s skipper after Rashid Khan stepped down following the Afghanistan Cricket Board’s (ACB) announcement of the 18-man squad for the multi-team tournament.
Not to mention that Afghanistan gained a direct qualification for the global showpiece event after they ended the year as one of the top-ten ranked teams in the ICC T20I rankings.
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In the match, Afghanistan opted to bat first and posted a humungous 190/4 on the board in their allotted 20 overs. Najibullah Zadran was the top scorer for his side. The left-handed batter made 59 from 34 deliveries with the help of five fours and three sixes.
Apart from Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (46 off 37) and Hazratullah Zazai (44 off 30) chipped in with valuable contributions to help Afghanistan post a massive total.
In reply, Scotland got bundled out for a mere 60 in 10.2 overs to lose the contest by a huge margin of 130 runs. Opener George Munsey, with 25 off 18, was Scotland’s highest scorer in the match.
For Afghanistan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman was the pick of the bowlers. The mystery spinner took a five-wicket haul for just 20 runs in his quota of 4 overs. Rashid also bowled brilliantly and bagged four scalps while conceded just nine runs in 2.2 overs.
“It’s important to win at the start of the tournament. This was our plan, to bat first and post a big total. Both the openers started well; we finished the powerplay on a good note. Najib played well to help as post such a big total. The world knows we have some good spinners in the form of Rashid and Mujeeb, they’ve played everywhere in the world. We have a very good team combination,” said Nabi after the match.
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