Hello and welcome to Sportstar's Highlights of the T20 World Cup 2021 match between Afghanistan and Scotland from Sharjah.
Afghanistan beat Scotland by 130 runs.
The spin duo of Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan spearheaded a clinical demolition of Scotland, taking 9 wickets between them to skittle out their opposition for 60 in 10.2 overs.
It was never going to be an easy chase, after Afghanistan's batters posted 190/4, with the openers laying the foundation in the Powerplay before the middle order, buoyed by Najibullah Zadran's 34-ball 59, carried the momentum through the innings and the death overs.
Scotland was off to steady start as openers Kyle Coetzer and George Munsey put on 28 runs in three overs. However, Mujeeb's three strikes in the fourth over triggered a historic batting collapse that led to Scotland registering its lowest-ever T20I total.
READ FULL REPORT : Mujeeb, Zadran star in Afghanistan's thumping win over Scotland
SCO 60/10 in 10.2 overs : Rashid continues. OUT! First ball gone and DRS confirms three reds. Davey departs. OUT! Wheal knocked over first ball and that's the match! Scotland is bundled out for 60 as Rashid picks his fourth wicket.
SCO 60/8 in 10 overs: Medium-pacer Janat to bowl his first. A breather for Scotland as no wickets fall in the over. Six from it as the batters work the singles.
SCO 54/8 in 9 overs: Rashid to attack from the other end. FOUR! Connects the reverse-sweep and it runs fine to the boundary. Another appeal for LBW but it might be going down leg. OUT! Greaves sweeps and misses. Greaves chooses to walk. Unlucky for them as replays confirm impact was outside. Just not Scotland's day today. Sharif takes a single to end the over.
SCO 46/1 in 8 overs: Mujeeb continues. Audacious from Greaves as he goes for the reverse-sweep...and misses. FOUR! Overthrows as Mujeeb misses a direct-hit chance. OUT! It's a fifer for Mujeeb. Watt is cleaned up. Single by new batter Davey to end the over.
SCO 40/6 in 7 overs: Rashid Khan comes in with his leg-spin. OUT! Misses a straight one and crashes into the pads. The decision stands and Leask departs.
SCO 37/5 in 6 overs: Mujeeb continues. SIX! Munsey is waging a lone battle. Full and slog sweeps it over square leg. OUT! It was all short-lived as Mujeeb knocks him over. Greaves goes for the sweep straightaway and misses.
SCO 30/4 in 5 overs: Naveen continues. OUT! Cross hangs his bat outside off to get an outside edge and Shahzad dives spectacularly to his right to complete the dismissal. Three dots to end the over and Afghanistan is all over Scotland.
SCO 28/3 in 4 overs: Mujeeb continues. OUT! Coetzer plays through the line and misses comprehensively. MacLeod comes in. OUT! Given LBW and MacLeod reviews. Wickets is umpire's call and the decision stands as the ball would have clipped top of leg stump. Mujeeb is on a hat-trick. Berrington to face hat-trick ball. Fends it back with a giant front-foot stride. Doesn't pick it this time and loud LBW but turned down. OUT! Another LBW dismissal and Berrington reviews. It's umpire's call again and Berrington departs.
SCO 27/0 in 3 overs: Skipper Coetzer to face his first ball. Driven through point for a couple off Naveen-ul-Haq. Slower one and it keeps low to Coetzer and thuds onto his pad. LBW appeal turned down but Nabi will go up. A wasted review in hindsight. Coetzer shuffled very wide outside off and impact was way outside the stump line. FOUR! Slower one again and smashed down the ground. Beaten on the slower one this time. Coetzer with an usual stump guard, standing outside off stump with almost all three wickets visible. FOUR! Picked up over mid-wicket off a back of length slower ball.
SCO 17/0 in 2 overs: Mujeeb with off-spin from the other end. Two dots to begin with. FOUR ! Munsey swings it over mid-wicket. Just two more come off it.
SCO 11/0 in 1 over: Off-spinner Nabi to left-hander Munsey upfront. FOUR! Reverse-sweeps it fine for a boundary. SIX! Luck favours the brave indeed! Reverse-sweep again and the top edge carries all the way over the rope. Two dots and a single to end the over.
THE CHASE BEGINS
Will Scotland draw first blood today or will Afghanistan continue its unbeaten run? Let's find out.
Scotland now faces an uphill task as it will require over nine and a half an over from the outset against the deadly spin trio of Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi.
A clinical batting performance from the Afghans. A perfect start from the openers set the foundation for the middle-order to continue with the assault en route to a big total. The batters used the crease to good effect, going deep and looking to pierce the shorter boundary regularly.
AFG 190/4 in 20 overs: Sharif to bowl the last. Chipped over cover for a couple by Najib. Nabi on strike after a single. FOUR! The skipper goes fine and beats a diving Leask. Najib back on strike. SIX! Full again on the stumps and stand and deliver stuff. Pulverized over long-on and it's a huge one again-- 103m. OUT! Full on the legs and Najib hands it straight to deep point.
AFG 176/3 in 19 overs: Davey runs in. Najib whips it away fine for a couple. Single next ball. OUT! Low full-toss outside off and Gurbaz looks to slog it straight down the ground but gets the edge. Flies high and easy catch at mid-off. Single to Najib and it's a thirty-ball 50. Nabi starts off with a four down the ground. A brace to end the over.
AFG 166/2 in 18 overs: Watt to bowl out. FOUR! In the slot and struck down the ground by Najib. Smashed to deep extra cover but just a single. And we have a review for LBW as Gurbaz sweeps in front of the stumps and misses the ball. Two reds but it spins away and misses leg stump by quite some distance. SIX! Wide outside off and Najib lifts it over long-off. Single to end the over.
AFG 151/2 in 17 overs: Wheal to bowl out. SIX! Gurbaz bludgeons it over long-on. Shuffles to the off to get it in his arc and it's dispatched! A couple of runs down square leg and it is being checked for a short run again and then a run out appeal. A single it will be as Gurbaz fails to plough his bat over the crease again but survives the run out review. SIX! Shuffles again and metes out the same treatment over long-on. Wheal now comes around the wicket. Slogged to square leg for one. A quick single off the nick to end the over.
AFG 136/2 in 16 overs: Sharif continues. SIX! Slower one and slighly short and Najib plonks it over long-on and that has travelled 106m! Two dots and a single to end the over and Najib will keep strike.
AFG 127/2 in 15 overs: SIX! Davey bowls in the slot and Gurbaz unleashes the helicopter shot to deposit it over mid-wicket. Recovers with three singles off the next three balls. Pulls back his length and then delivers the yorker. Flicked off the pads to deep backward square and a couple for Najib. Okay, it will be a single as Najib fails to put the bat over crease line. Single to end the over.
AFG 116/2 in 14 overs: Watt with the ball. Starts off with three dots. FOUR! Strays on the leg-side and Najib whips it fine to the boundary. Just one from the first five balls and Watt hands a gift to make it five off it.
AFG 111/2 in 13 overs: Greaves into his third over. SIX! Goes full and Gurbaz slog sweeps it over the shorter boundary. Punched to long-off for a single. FOUR! Loose ball on the legs and swept fine by Najib.
AFG 98/2 in 12 overs: Wheal comes into the attack. Great running between the wickets as Najib converts a gentle nudge to mid-wicket into a couple. FOUR! Cut away square by Najib off a short and wide delivery.
AFG 89/2 in 11 overs: Greaves back with the ball. FOUR! Najib gets off the mark with a boundary. Lifts it over cover with the spin. Umpire review for run-out and Najib is in by a mile.
AFG 82/2 in 10 overs: Watt continues. Cramps Zazai for room. Worked away for a couple at deep mid-wicket. OUT! Bowled! Yorks Zazai and it ricochets off the boot to crash into the stumps. Najib Zadran the new man in. Dot to end the over.
AFG 79/1 in 9 overs: Davey to bowl his second over. Goes for the knuckle ball first up and it's a dot. FOUR! Heaves it away to square leg on a slightly shorter length. Eight more come from the over. Zazai gets a top edge on the pick-up shot last ball but it falls just short of the man at backward point.
AFG 67/1 in 8 overs: Spin from both ends as Greaves takes the ball. SIX! Length from the leg-spinner and Zazai launches it over mid-wicket. Scurries for a single next ball after smashing it to mid-on. Just short of Greaves of Gurbaz almost hands it back to the bowler. A couple and a single to end the over. Ten from it.
AFG 57/1 in 7 overs: Mark Watt to bowl leg-spin. Right on the money with a stump-to-stump line. Just a single and a wide from it.
AFG 55/1 in 6 overs: Sharif to bowl his second. FOUR! Edged to third by Shahzad and that's a fifty stand... the fastest team fifty of the tournament so far. Sliced over point for two. Sharif pulls back his length the next couple of balls. OUT! Full on the legs and Shahzad looks to launch it over mid-wicket but falls short of the boundary. One leg-bye to end the over.
AFG 46/0 in 5 overs: Wheal continues. SIX! In the slot and Zazai slogs it over mid-wicket. What a clean hit and what a delightful sound of leather on wood. 101 m on it and that's the longest hit of the tournament so far. FOUR! Squeezes the gap between point and cover with a late cut. FOUR! Great foot movement and Shahzad lifts it over cover. Single to end the over.
AFG 30/0 in 4 overs : Pacer Josh Davey replaces Leask. Flicked off the pads by Shahzad for one. Zazai beaten outside off, attempting a wild slog. Cramped for room, Zazai pushes it to mid-on for one. Change of pace deceives Shahzad as he on-drive goes uppish but lands safely, one more. FOUR! Little room for error as Davey goes full and Zazai slices it to a vacant third. Heaved to the on-side for a single.
AFG 22/0 in 3 overs: Sharif replaces Wheal. Beaten! Change in pace and Shahzad swings and misses. Good length from Sharif, denying Shahzad the chance to free his arms. Goes deep in the crease this time and fends it tentatively. Clears his front leg to smash it on the on-side but finds the fielder in the deep...just a single. Wide down leg to Zazai. Dot to end the over. Great discipline from Sharif as just two come from it.
AFG 20/0 in 2 overs: Leask with spin from the other end. FOUR! Full on the stumps and pummelled down the ground. Single to deep mid-wickt to get off strike. SIX! Shahzad smashes the off-spinner over deep extra-cover on his first ball. Shuffles across to place it past mid-wicket for one. SIX! Zazai strikes this time. Flighted again by Leask and Zazai frees his arms to launch it over mid-wicket. 18 from the over.
AFG 2/0 in 1 over: Wheal comes round the wicket to the left-hander, shaping it away from him. Stroked to point for a dot. Wide down leg. First run on the board. Great start from Wheal with three successive dot balls. Back of length and Zazai can't get it away. Single down square-leg and Zazai is off the mark.
Brad Wheal to open the bowling for Scotland. Zazai takes strike. Scotland players take the knee.
Teams line-up for the national anthems. Live action to begin soon.
Milestone Alert!
Afghanistan Playing XI : Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Asghar Afghan, Mohammad Nabi (c), Najibullah Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
Scotland Playing XI: Kyle Coetzer (c), George Munsey, Calum MacLeod, Richie Berrington, Matthew Cross (wk), Michael Leask, Chris Greaves, Mark Watt, Josh Davey, Safyaan Sharif, Brad Wheal.
Nabi elects to bat first and cites the dry nature of the pitch as the reason. He expects a good batting wicket and looks to replicate his team's performance against the West Indies in the warm-up match where it scored 189 batting first before Nabi's triple strikes restricted the Windies to 133/5.
Scotland skipper Kyle Coetzer is happy with the outcome of the toss as he says he would have bowled first in any case. He is confident of chasing, considering the results of the recently concluded IPL.
Key players from the fixture
Afghanistan's explosive opener Mohammad Shahzad has 309 runs from six matches, followed by Scotland's Matt Machan (171) and Asghar Afghan (119).
Right-arm pacer Hamid Hasan has a tally of 10 wickets in the fixture, followed by skipper Nabi (9) and former Scotland pacer Iain Wardlaw (7).
Head-to-head stats
Afghanistan beat Scotland by 14 runs at Nagpur in 2016 in the only T20 World Cup clash between the sides.
In all T20Is, Afghanistan enjoys a 6-0 perfect win record against Scotland, with the 2016 World Cup clash being the the last encounter between the teams.
Despite Afghanistan starting favourite, largely owing to its potent spin department, Scotland has a knack for pulling off upsets.
Here is a look at its stunning victory over Bangladesh on the opening-day of the tournament.
It will be more than just a cricket match for Afghanistan skipper Mohammad Nabi as he hopes to bring some happiness to his people back home in the wake of the Taliban takeover.
"The fans are really waiting because the only happiness in Afghanistan is cricket. If we do well in the tournament and win games, the fans will be really happy and there will be a lot of smiles on faces." -Reuteurs
READ:Afghanistan hopes World Cup success can bring joy back home
Meanwhile, Scotland batter Calum MacLeod looks to use the T20 World Cup as a platform to make a case for his country's Full Member status which would allow it to play the traditional five-day Test matches.
"I think if you look specifically at the way Afghanistan and Ireland did it, they did it from doing well at World Cups, and I think we've now got five great opportunities to go out and show world cricket what this organisation and the team is about." -Reuters
READ : Scotland eyes Test status with strong T20 World Cup show
Where to watch T20 World Cup 2021 - Afghanistan vs Scotland Live?
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