Afghanistan crush Uganda by 125 with Fazalhaq Farooqi picking maiden fifer

Rashid Khan’s Afghanistan side swept past the Uganda challenge as they won their opening game by a massive 125 runs. Uganda were bowled out for 58 runs as Fazalhaq Farooqi was the best bowler with 5/9 from 4 overs. It was a comprehensive win for the Afghans as they dominated with the bat and ball. 

Afghanistan have now joined West Indies from their group in winning their first match from Group C of the T20 World Cup 2024. With this massiv win Afghanistan go top of their group thanks to their superior run rate. 

Earlier on Monday, South Africa began their campaign with a hard fought win over Sri Lanka. Aiden Markram and his side bowled out the Lankans for just 77 runs with Anrich Nortje picking 4/7 from his 4 overs. The Proteas chased down the target in the 17th over and won by 6 wickets left. 

Fazalhaq Farooqi’s fifer helps Afghanistan claim massive win 

Afghanistan were asked to bat first as Uganda skipper Brian Masaba won the toss. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran added 156 for the first wicket as the two batters took apart the Uganda bowling unit apart. 

Ibrahim Zadran scored 70 before he was castled by Brian Masaba, while Rahmanullah Gurbaz fell for 76. Afghanistan batter struggled to get going as they could post only 183 runs thanks to some tight bowling from the Uganda bowlers. 

Fazalhaq Farooqi began the proceedings with the ball in fine style as he got two early wickets in successive balls. Even before the end of the 5th over Uganda were struggling at 18/5 with all of their batters looking clueless against the efficient Afghan bowlers. 

Robinson Obuya with 14 and Riazat Ali Khan with 11 were the only two batters who crossed the double figures. The pair were dismissed by the left-arm seam bowling of Farooqi and with the wicket of Brian Masaba he picked his maiden fifer in T20 cricket. 

Rashid Khan then did the cleanup job as he dismissed Bilal Hassan and Henry Ssenyondo to bundle out Uganda for 58 runs. The man of the match was given to Fazalhaq Farooqi for his brilliant spell.