T20 World Cup 2024: Afghanistan rout debutants Uganda to start campaign with big win

Afghanistan were at their ruthless best as they did not show any mercy to debutants Uganda in their Group C opener of the men’s T20 World Cup 2024 on Tuesday, June 4.

After posting 183 on a difficult pitch for the batters, Afghanistan bowled Uganda out for 58, sealing a 125-run win to begin their campaign in style. Fazalhar Farooqi became the first bowler to pick a five-wicket haul in the ongoing edition of the T20 World Cup as he led Afghanistan’s rout at the Providence Stadium in Guyana.

Fazalhaq Farooqi finished with figures of 5 for 9 while Naveen-ul-Haq and Rashid Khan picked two wickets each as Uganda were bundled out for the fourth lowest total in the history of men’s T20 competition. It was a comprehensive bowling show from Afghanistan after a brilliant batting show from Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran.

Afghanistan have been labelled as dark horses in the tournament and Rashid Khan’s men lived up to the billing, handing debutants Uganda a thrashing. The win will help Afghanistan boost their Net Run Rate and stay ahead of the chasing pack in a tough group, which also has New Zealand and former champions West Indies, who clinched a nervy win over Papua New Guinea.

It was a momentous occasion for Uganda as the Brian Masaba-led side made its debut in the biggest T20 competition in the world after having worked their way through African qualifiers, beating Test-playing Zimbabwe and Kenya. However, Uganda found it tough as they were unable to compete and put up a fight against Afghanistan in the Group C clash.

Brian Masaba won the toss and opted to bowl, basing his decision on the recent trend in Guyana where the teams chasing have won. However, Uganda were not able to make an inroad until the 15th over as opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran mixed caution and aggression on a pitch that was doing enough for the bowlers.

RECORD PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN GURBAZ AND IBRAHIM
Gurbaz and Zadran added 154 runs for the opening partnership. It was the second-highest opening partnership in the history of the men’s T20 World Cup. Only Jos Buttler and Alex Hales — 170 in 2022 against India, had scored more than Gurbaz and Fazalhaq for the first-wicket stand.

It was a flawless innings from Gurbaz and Ibrahm as the two not only collected boundaries, but kept running hard between the wickets to put pressure on the Uganda fielders. Gurbaz battled cramps on a hot and humid evening at the Providence Stadium, but kept going.

Gurbaz hit 4 sixes and as many boundaries for his 45-ball 76 while Ibrahim hit a six and 9 boundaries for his 46-ball 70.

However, both the openers fell in successive overs after Uganda captain Masaba got the big wicket of Ibrahim in the 15th over.

Both Ibrahim and Gurbaz had the opportunity to hit a hundred each, but they threw it away.

The two wickets stemmed the run-flow as Uganda fought back with the ball, conceding just 29 runs in the last 5.3 overs. Afghanistan went from 154 for 0 in the 15th over to finish with 183 for 5 in 20 overs.

For Uganda, only two batters — Riazat Ali Shah and Robinson Obuya — got into double-digit scores as Afghanistan bowlers ran through an inexperienced batting line-up.

Afghanistan will next face New Zealand on June 7 in Guyana while Uganda will take on PNG on June 5.