&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "T20 World Cup 2026: Afghanistan clinch maiden victory, South Africa enter Super 8s")
Afghanistan secured their first win of the T20 World Cup 2026 with a five-wicket victory over the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Monday (Feb 16). The result also confirmed South Africa’s place in the next round, making them the third team, after West Indies and India to qualify for the Super 8s.
Chasing 161 from 20 overs, Ibrahim Zadran and Azmatullah Omarzai produced match-winning knocks and helped their team to win the match. Zadran scored 53 off 41 balls, while Omarzai remained unbeaten on 40 from just 21 deliveries, smashing three sixes and two fours. Darwish Rasooli also made a valuable 33 off 23 balls, including three fours and a six. However, opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz was dismissed for a duck by Junaid Siddique.
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For UAE, Junaid Siddique (2/23) and Muhammad Arfan (2/30) took two wickets each. Muhammad Jawadullah (1/39) picked up one wicket.
Earlier, after winning the toss, Afghanistan chose to bowl first. UAE had a poor start, losing opener Aryansh Sharma for a duck. Muhammad Waseem also failed to score big and was out for 10 runs. Later, Alishan Sharafu scored 40 off 31 balls and Sohaib Khan made 68 off 48 balls and steadied the innings fr their team and their partnership helped UAE reach 160 for nine in 20 overs.
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For Afghanistan, Azmatullah Omarzai was the standout bowler, taking four wickets for just 15 runs in four overs. Mujeeb Ur Rahman claimed two wickets for 31 runs and captain Rashid Khan took one wicket.
Azmatullah Omarzai was named Player of the Match for his all-round performance, scoring 40 not out and taking four wickets.
