Published: May 02, 2014, 03:52 PM (IST)
Edited: May 02, 2014, 04:12 PM (IST)
May 2, 2014
Afghanistan beat United Arab Emirates (UAE) by 70 runs in the Asian Cricket Council Premier League game held in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. Earlier, UAE won the toss and elected to field. They were left ruing their decision as Afghanistan openers Ali Zadran and Usman Ghani recorded twin fifties.
Both batsmen fell soon after scoring their fifties, and there was a bit of a slide as Afghanistan went from 99 for no loss to 124 for four in 30 overs. But that brought together the pair of Samiullah Shenwari and skipper Mohammad Nabi, who plundered the UAE bowlers for rapid runs. Nabi was dismissed with four overs remaining for a very good 77 off just 57 balls, while Shenwari remained unbeaten on 82 off just 68 balls to help Afghanistan to a healthy total of 302 for five.
In reply, UAE started well with openers Amjad Ali and Salman Faris putting on a 70 run opening parternship. However, they wickets regularly after that with only Ali showing any real resistance. He was the fourth man out for a well-compiled 98 off 107 deliveries. After his dismissal no other batsman crossed 30, as UAE were bundled out for 232 in the 44th over. Rahmat Shah was the wrecker-in-chief with figures of five for 32.
Brief scores:
Afghanistan 302 for 5 in 50 overs (Samiullah Shenwari 82, Mohammad Nabi 77, Usman Ghani 55, Ali Zadran 53; Khurram Khan 2 for 33, Ahmed Raza 2 for 50) beat UAE 232 in 44.3 overs (Amjad Ali 98; Rahmat Shah 5 for 32) by 70 runs.
Man of the Match: Mohammad Nabi
