Omarzai’s all-round masterclass helps Afghanistan edge past UAE

Afghanistan's Azmatullah Omarzai plays a shot during the T20 World Cup cricket match between Afghanistan and United Arab Emirates (AP Photo)

New Delhi: Azmatullah Omarzai has, over the past couple of years, quietly grown into Afghanistan’s most indispensable cricketer. He is the crisis manager who can mend a faltering innings, the strike bowler who breaks partnerships, and the allrounder who lends balance to a team built on flair. On a slow, gripping surface at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here, he wore all those hats with remarkable clarity, delivering a four-wicket haul (4/15) and a nerveless unbeaten 40 (off 21b) to steer Afghanistan to a five-wicket win over UAE during a crucial Group D clash of the T20 World Cup on Monday.

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For much of the chase, the contest remained finely poised. With 52 needed off the last five overs, the equation was challenging but well within reach in modern T20 cricket. The pitch, however, stubbornly resisted clean hitting. The ball held in the surface, as the batters struggled to get under it, and UAE sensed an opening when Ibrahim Zadran (53 off 41b) was dismissed in the 14th over. Omarzai, though, remained unhurried. He played an innings of controlled urgency, punctuated by decisive strokes at the death. With the game slipping towards another tense finish, he eased the nerves, sealing victory with 6, 4, 4 off his final three balls. Two deliveries into the final over, a crisp drive over covers finished the contest and gave Afghanistan its first win of the tournament. Omarzai’s late assault had been necessitated by a stuttering chase. Afghanistan’s pursuit of an under-par 161 began on a shaky ground when Junaid Siddique struck in the second ball of the innings, inducing Rahmanullah Gurbaz to mistime a lofted drive to backward point. Zadran attempted to stabilise proceedings, returning to his consolidatory best with a measured 37-ball fifty. But the sluggish pitch and UAE’s smart use of variations kept the scoring in check. When Muhammad Arfan (2/30) removed Zadran in the 14th over, Afghanistan were left searching for impetus at a critical juncture. Omarzai provided it. Alongside Darwish Rasooli (33 off 23b), he stitched together a brisk 43-run partnership in just 4.2 overs, shifting gears precisely when the chase threatened to stagnate. Earlier, Omarzai had set up the win with the ball. Opening the attack, he produced prodigious swing with the new ball to dismiss Aryansh Sharma in the first over, setting the tone for a day where he would repeatedly dent UAE’s chances. At the end of the second over, UAE were 13 for 2 after losing their most experienced batter and skipper Muhammad Waseem to mystery spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman. But Alishan Sharafu (40 off 31b) and Sohaib Khan (68 off 38b) combined to engineer a spirited fightback. Their 84-run partnership powered UAE to 97/2 by the 11th over. Just as UAE seemed poised for a late flourish, Omarzai returned to dismantle the middle order. He first produced a terrific hard-length delivery that squared up Syed Haider and brushed the top of off, before spearing a pitched-up ball wide of off to dismiss Harshit Kaushik, who reached out to cut but managed only an edge. Rashid Khan’s tidy spell and his landmark 700th T20 wicket, courtesy Muhammad Arfan’s dismissal, further choked the momentum, restricting UAE to 160, a total that proved insufficient.

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