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Gurbaz, Ibrahim and Farooqi hand Uganda a thrashing
Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran struck fifties in the second -highest opening stand in T20 World Cup history and Fazalhaq Farooki took his maiden five-wicket haul in T20Is as Afghanistan crushed debutants Uganda by 125 runs in their Group C game of the T20 World Cup in Guyana. Afghanistan’s 183 for 5 was too much for Uganda, who were bowled out for 58 runs in 16 overs.
Farooqi’s five-for apart, Naveen-ul-Haq and captain Rashid Khan picked up two wickets each as Afghanistan ruined Uganda’s introduction to cricket’s biggest event. Uganda would, however, take heart from their comeback with the ball. Afghanistan lost 5 for 31 in the last six overs of their innings to finish well below 200. Uganda captain Brian Masaba, who bowls spin, and fast bowler Cosmas Kyewuta took two wickets each.
Before the collapse, Gurbaz and Ibrahim had blasted 18 boundaries in the first 14 overs. Gurbaz made his 76 off 45 balls with four sixes and as many fours, while Ibrahim struck nine fours and a six in his 46-ball 70.
Gurbaz got things going when he lofted left-arm spinner Alpesh Ramjani to the stand beyond the long-off boundary off the second ball of the innings. Ibrahim struck Kyewuta through mid-on for his first boundary before wicketkeeper Simon Ssesazi dropped him on 16 off Ramjani.
He capitalised on the chance, hitting Dinesh Nakrani for four successive boundaries in the sixth over as Afghanistan ended the powerplay on 66 for 0. Gurbaz took his sixes tally to four when he struck Henry Ssenyondo for two maximums in consecutive overs. He brought up his eighth T20I fifty in the ninth over, before Ibrahim brought up their century stand in the following over.
Ibrahim also reached his seventh fifty in T20Is before launching into Bilal Hassan for his first six, a proper slog over midwicket. It was a tough 14th over for Hassan, who conceded five wides and then was hit for a four off a no-ball. He ended up giving away 25 runs in the over, after which Afghanistan lost their way.
Ibrahim fell in the 15th over to end his 154-run stand with Gurbaz, when he missed a tossed-up ball from Masaba. Ramjani then had Gurbaz hole out to deep square leg in the following over.
Masaba removed Najibullah Zadran in the 17th over, Nakrani taking the catch at the deep square leg boundary, before Kyewuta picked up his two wickets. He had Gulbadin Naib caught at long-on for four, and then in the final over, Azmatullah Omarzai skied one to short third.
It was a fine comeback from Uganda after they conceded at 10.85 in the first 14 overs. They didn’t give away a single boundary in the last six overs of the innings, the first such instance in the T20 World Cup.
Farooqi and Naveen took two wickets each in the powerplay as Uganda slipped to 18 for 5. Farooqi removed Ronak Patel and Roger Mukasa off consecutive deliveries in the first over. Both deliveries were fast and swung in, leaving the two batters with little time to bring down their bat. Riazat Ali Shah kept out the yorker on the hat-trick ball but there was no respite for Uganda.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman had Ssesazi caught at short fine leg, before Naveen had Nakrani bowled off his inside edge in the fifth over. One ball later, Ramjani edged Naveen to Naib at first slip. It was Uganda’s first appearance at a World Cup, and Afghanistan underlined the gulf between the two sides.
Riazat and Robinson Obuya kept Afghanistan at bay for 7.3 overs as they added 29 runs for the sixth wicket. But the former’s 34-ball vigil ended when Farooqi, back into the attack for his third over, cleaned him up. He had captain Masaba caught behind off the next ball before Obuya, Uganda’s top scorer on the day with 14 runs, was also caught behind in the same over to hand Farooqi his five-for. Rashid took the two remaining wickets, trapping Hassan lbw and bowling Ssenyondo next ball.
Brief scores:
Afghanistan 183/5 in 20 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 76, Ibrahim Zadran 70; Alpesh Ramjani 1-33, Brian Masaba 2-21, Cosmas Kyewuta 2-25) beat Uganda 58 in 16 overs (Robinson Obuya 14; Fazalhaq Farooqi 5-09, Mujeeb ur Rahman 1-16, Naveen ul Haq 2-04, Rashid Khan 2-12) by 125 runs
[Cricinfo]
The aid group Doctors Without Borders has reported recovering 11 bodies and rescuing dozens of people off the coast of Libya as it criticised the migration policies of the North African country and European countries.
In a statement on Friday, the group, known by its French initials MSF, said its Geo Barents rescue vessel managed to recover the bodies following a search operation lasting more than nine hours after being alerted by German nongovernmental organisation Sea-Watch, which also rescues refugees and migrants.
“As we cannot determine the reason behind this tragedy, we know that people will continue to take dangerous routes in a desperate attempt to reach safety, and Europe must find safe and legal pathways for them,” MSF said in a post on X. “This catastrophe must end!”
Sea-Watch said it is unclear whether the bodies were victims of a previously unknown shipwreck, adding that they tried to contact Libya’s coastguard to go and retrieve the dead, but received no reply.
“The so-called Libyan coastguard – financed by the EU – ignored our call demanding that the bodies be recovered,” the group said.
Thousands of people trying to head from Africa to Europe use Libya as a departing point, with the Italian island of Lampedusa the nearest European destination as they undertake the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean to escape war, poverty and persecution.
Italy, which wants to put a stop to the migration stream, has said Libya and neighbouring Tunisia must do more to stop people from going to sea. It has also clamped down on the operation of the rescue ships, arguing that they encourage people to head to Europe, a charge that is denied by the charities.
Emphasising its policy on the rescue ships, Italy said on Friday that it forced the MSF rescue vessel to take the 165 people that it had saved from boats in the Mediterranean operation to the northern port of Genoa. The port was more than 650 nautical miles (1,200km) from their position and much farther than the more convenient ports in nearby Sicily, significantly delaying assistance to the rescued.
The route in the central Mediterranean is the most dangerous migrant crossing in the world, with the United Nations registering more than 20,000 deaths and disappearances in the area since 2014.
More than 3,000 refugees and migrants went missing in 2023 while attempting to use the route, according to the International Organization for Migration.
According to Italy’s interior ministry, the number of arrivals in the country has dropped in 2024 to fewer than 21,800 people since the beginning of the year, compared with close to 53,300 in the same period last year.
[Aljazeera]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
Afghanistan boosted their Super Eight chances with yet another dominating win, this time thumping New Zealand by 84 runs in Providence. Having beaten Uganda by 125 runs in their opening match, they are now at the top of Group C with a net run rate of 5.225.
After being sent in, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran gave Afghanistan a start of 103 in 14.3 overs. It came off the back of the 154 the pair added against Uganda, thus making them the first opening pair to register two successive century stands in the history of the T20 World Cup.
Afghanistan’s was an innings of two halves. They scored 55 for no loss in the first ten overs and 104 for 6 in the last ten, with Gurbaz contributing 80 off 56 balls. New Zealand, who had decided not to play any warm-up games, looked every bit rusty as their fielders dropped catches and missed run-out opportunities.
With the pitch assisting both seamers and spinners, chasing 160 was not going to be easy. But few would have expected New Zealand to collapse in the manner they did.
Fazalhaq Farooqi picked up three wickets in the powerplay and Rashid Khan three just after it. Eventually, both ended with identical figures of 4 for 17 as New Zealand were bowled out for 75 in the 15.2 overs. Glenn Phillips and Matt Henry were the only New Zealand batters to reach the double digits.
Trent Boult found some swing in the opening over but Gurbaz and Ibrahim showed their intent by picking up three fours off Henry from the other end. Both batters had luck on their side, too. Gurbaz got a second life when he skipped down the track to Santner and missed the ball, which went on to brush the leg stump but the bails did not budge. In the following over, Finn Allen dropped Ibrahim off Henry at the deep-square-leg boundary.
That was not all. Gurbaz got another reprieve after being involved in a miscommunication with Ibrahim. Having taken off for a single, Gurbaz had to retrace his steps and would have been run out had Conway not fumbled the throw.
Two balls later, New Zealand finally seemed to have found success when Santner pinged Ibrahim’s pads and umpire Kumar Dharmasena ruled it lbw. But the batter got the decision overturned on review as the ball was heading down the leg side. Immediately after that, Ibrahim hit Santner for an inside-out four as Afghanistan ended the powerplay on 44 for no loss.
New Zealand went against the prevailing wisdom of not bowling an offspinner when two right-hand batters at the crease, and Michael Bracewell repaid that faith by conceding only six off his first two overs.
Lockie Ferguson was even more frugal, going for five in his first two. He could have had Ibrahim off a slower full toss but a leaping Kane Williamson failed to pull off a one-handed stunner at mid-off. That meant while Afghanistan remained unscathed, they had only 55 on the board after ten overs.
Afghanistan had not hit a single six in the first ten overs, but there were five in the next three, including three in one Bracewell over as Gurbaz and Bracewell stepped on the accelerator. The pair took the side past 100 in the 14th over. New Zealand finally broke through when Ibrahim bottom-edged a short ball from Henry onto his stumps, after having been hit on the grille on the previous delivery.
Promoted to No. 3, Azmatullah Omarzai played his part with 22 off 13, which included two sixes in three balls off Henry. Mohammad Nabi fell for a first-ball duck but Gurbaz kept finding the boundary at regular intervals. However, a three-wicket, three-run final over by Boult kept Afghanistan to 159.
Farooqi gave Afghanistan a dream start with the ball. With the very first delivery of the innings, he uprooted Finn Allen’s leg stump as the ball moved in late. In the seamer’s next over, Conway pushed at one that seemed to come slower off the surface and was caught at extra cover.
The decision to give Farooqi a third over in the powerplay brought further rewards. This time, bowling around the wicket to Daryl Mitchell, he got a length delivery to just straighten and take the outside edge. Gurbaz took a regulation catch to complete the dismissal and leave New Zealand 28 for 3.
It could have been worse for New Zealand. In between, Naveen-ul-Haq had rapped Kane Williamson’s front pad after the batter had moved across to play a delivery. Afghanistan sent it upstairs for an lbw review but the umpire’s call saved the New Zealand captain.
Afghanistan did not have to wait too long for Williamson’s wicket. Rashid brought himself on after the powerplay and struck straightaway as Williamson guided one to first slip. But Rashid was just warming up. In his next over, he dismissed Mark Chapman and Bracewell off successive deliveries to leave New Zealand on 43 for 6. Chapman went for a pull and got bowled; Bracewell was late to bring his bat down and was lbw.
Phillips was New Zealand’s last hope. He did hit a couple of boundaries but was soon caught at long-on when he tried to take on Nabi. That ended any hopes of revival New Zealand might have had.
Brief scores:
Afghanistan 159 for 6 in 20 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 80, Ibrahim Zadran 44, Azmatullah Omarzai 22; Trent Boult 2-22, Matt Henry 2-37, Lockie Fergusoan 1-28) beat New Zealand 75 in 15.2 overs (Glenn Phillips 18; Rashid Khan 4 for 17, Fazalhaq Farooqi 4 for 17, Mohammad Nabi 2-16) by 84 runs
[Cricinfo]
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