Published: Feb 19, 2016, 07:48 PM (IST)
Edited: Feb 19, 2016, 07:48 PM (IST)
The Twenty20 International (T20I) season has begun with the first match of Asia Cup 2016 Qualifiers between Afghanistan and United Arab Emirates (UAE) at Fatullah on Friday. Batting first, UAE posted a decent total of 176 runs on the board with Rohan Mustafa’s scintillating knock of 77. His stunning innings set the tone for UAE as Afghanistan couldn’t chase the total despite having a good batting line up. Only Karim Sadiq held the fort for his team and kept fighting with his score 72 runs off 48 balls. But UAE prevailed and won comfortably by 16 runs in the end. With this victory, UAE now have got off to a good start in the tournament. Abhishek Kumar digs out 10 interesting statistical facts from the match.
1. UAE scored 64 runs without losing a single wicket during the power-play overs. This is the second instance in UAE’s T20I history when they have not lost a single wicket during the power-plays; first one also being against the same opposition in July, 2015 at Edinburgh.
2. UAE opener Rohan Mustafa became the third half-centurion for the nation in T20Is after Amjad Javed (76) and Shiaman Anwar (54).
3. UAE openers Mustafa and Muhammad Kaleem put an amazing partnership of 83 runs for the opening wicket, which is their biggest partnership overall and seventh biggest in Bangladesh in T20Is.
4. Mustafa scored 77 runs in this match and became the highest individual scorer for UAE in T20Is. Previous best was Amjad Javed’s 76.
5. UAE’s 176 is the highest total by them in T20Is.
6. Afghanistan scored 160 runs while chasing 177. This is their highest total in a losing cause.
7. Karim Sadiq scored 72 runs while chasing and this is now the highest individual score by any Afghanistan player in a losing cause while chasing.
8. Mustafa took three wickets too after scoring 77. This is the second instance in a T20I match when any individual player has scored 75 plus runs and taken three wickets in the same match.
9. Mustafa’s 3 for 19 is his second best bowling figures in T20Is. His best is 3 for 9 against Oman on November 22, 2015 at Abu Dhabi.
10. Mustafa was playing his 10th match and he is now the third player from UAE to reach double figure mark in terms of playing T20Is.
(Abhishek Kumar is a cricket devotee currently staffing with Criclife.com. He can be followed at abhicricket.kumar and @abhishekkr2593)
