UAE take on Afghanistan in their final T20 match at the ICC Academy, Dubai today. Afghanistan go into this match having already clinched the series 2-0 after Najibullah Zadran put in a superb performance as he scored a half century in just 23 balls.
Afghanistan had a tough time with the ball as they allowed UAE to put up a huge total of 180. In the second innings at one point it looked like Afghanistan might actually lose the match after the loss of their fifth wicket at the end of the 14th over. At that stage they needed 64 runs in the final six overs and that's when Najibullah Zadran put up an outstanding performance.
UAE will be really disappointed with themselves as they had a really good chance to win the match and level the series. They put in a good performance with the bat as Shaiman Anwar scored 60 from 50 balls and Rameez Shahzad scored 47 from just 19 balls. They started the second innings really well dismissing Afghanistan's top batsman Usman Ghani, Asghar Stanikzai and Samiullah Shenwari but the introduction of Najibullah Zadran changed the course of the match.
Despite Afghanistan claiming the series, UAE will still have a point to prove going into the final match. A positive sign for UAE going into this match will be the performance of their batsman Rameez Shahzad. He scored 49 in the first match and 47 in the second match. UAE will have to continue this fine batting in the final match but they will have to improve their bowling if they are to avoid a complete series white wash.
| Match Schedule |
December 18th Sunday – 3rdT20 a ICC Academy, Dubai (1:00 pm local time, 2:30 pm IST and 9:00 am GMT)
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