Afghanistan made a favorable start to the three-match T20 series against the United Arab Emirates as they eased to a five-wicket win at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.Karim Janat struck 53 off 38 balls and shared a match-winning 67-run stand for the fourth wicket with Afsar Zazai (48) to ferreted out the target of 143 with 5 deliveries to spare.UAE put up a good fight early in Afghanistan&& 's chase after.
Junaid Siddiqui grabbed two wickets in two overs and Zahoor Khan picked up another to leave Afghanistan 48-3 in 6.2 overs.
In spite of losing early wickets, Afghanistan were on track in regards to run rate, reaching 70-3 at the midway phase of the chase.Afsar hauled Rohan Mustafa for 14 in his first over, including 2 sixes, to kickstart the second half of their innings.
From there on, Afsar and Janat altered took control of the chase.Afsar disappointed his half century after a dazzling catch by CP Rizwan at brief mid-on off Muhammad Jawadullah.That left Afghanistan needing 28 from 30 balls.
Janat skied a catch to Mustafa off Zawar Farid but by then, he had actually taken his side to within 5 runs of victory.Earlier, captain Rizwan top-scored for the UAE with a 41-ball 48, while Muhammad Waseem chipped in with 35-ball 33.
The set shared a 75-run stand for the 2nd wicket.Rashid pulled things back by grabbing two wickets in 2 balls.
He trapped Waseem lbw one ball after the UAE batsman had swept the Afghanistan captain over deep square leg for six.
Basil Hameed fell to comparable termination the first ball he dealt with to leave the UAE at 98-3 in the 15th over.Mustafa, with a 15-ball 22, and Aayan Khan (18) share an important 30-run stand to take their team&& 's total to 142-5.
The remaining two video games also happen at Abu Dhabi on Saturday and Sunday.The post Afghanistan vs UAE 1st T20I: Afghanistan beat UAE by 5 wickets initially appeared on Ariana News.