TimesofIndia.com in New Delhi: How many days do you think one needs to recover from the heartbreak of falling in a double Super Over? Five days, is it enough? Well, Afghanistan flirted with the possibility of another Super Over, or even a defeat, but eventually overcame the finish line by five wickets, with four balls remaining, against the United Arab Emirates at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Monday.
At one point, it looked like Afghanistan was heading toward the exit door. Needing 28 runs off 18 balls, the ask seemed too big even if they had six wickets in hand.
An over later, which saw a six and a wicket, the equation changed to 17 needed off 12 balls.
A couple of singles later, the tension was visible in the dugout and in a place where quite a few Afghan flags could be seen.
Muhammad Jawadullah, who had just produced three valuable dot balls, dived in and sent one outside off, towards the fourth stump line, and Azmatullah Omarzai got under it and smashed it into the crowd.
The next ball, a long delivery, luck came to Omarzai and Afghanistan’s rescue with a thick inside edge heading towards the boundary rope.
With just four needed in the last over, the 25-year-old all-rounder kept Afghanistan’s slim hopes of reaching the Super Eight alive with a boundary past the cover region.
Afghanistan, which follows Canada, no longer controls its destiny in the competition. If New Zealand beats Canada on Tuesday, the semi-finalists from the last edition will be eliminated.
UAE post 160/9, struggle in last two overs
Sohaib Khan produced an excellent half-century but Azmatullah Omarzai’s four-wicket haul helped keep UAE at 160/9.
After electing to bowl, Afghanistan struck early to leave the UAE reeling at 13 for 2, before Sohaib anchored the innings with 68 off 48 balls, studded with six fours and four sixes.
He put up a 57-ball, 84-run stand for the third wicket alongside Alishan Sharafu (40 off 29), helping the team recover from the early blows.
Afghanistan, however, fought back in the middle with a flurry of wickets, reducing the UAE to 121 for 6 in the 16th over.
Sohaib then added 31 more runs with Haider Ali, but Omarzai returned in the 19th over to remove him and claim his fourth wicket.
Earlier, the UAE suffered an early setback when previous match hero Aryansh Sharma was dismissed for a four-ball duck, beating a pull by wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz off Omarzai. Skipper Muhammad Waseem (10) hit two boundaries before being caught lbw by Mujeeb Ur Rahman, as UAE fell to 13 for 2.
Afghanistan’s substitute pacer Ziaur Rahman, who replaced left-arm seamer Fazalhaq Farooqi, and spinner Noor Ahmad proved costly.
Rahman conceded 16 runs in his first over, with Sohaib hitting three boundaries.
The UAE batsmen negotiated well with the Afghan spinners in the Powerplay, capitalizing on anything loose. Sharafu smashed two boundaries off Mujeeb as UAE advanced to 55 for 2, before tackling Rashid Khan for six to raise the half-century stand.
Noor endured a difficult outing, with Sohaib hitting him for two sixes over cover and mid-wicket as the UAE reached 93 for 2 in 10 overs.
Mujeeb finally broke the position, and Sharafu found Ibrahim Zadran at long range. Omarzai then struck twice in his third over, dismissing Syed Haider (13) and forcing a Harshit Kaushik (0) lead.
Sohaib reached fifty off 37 balls with a six, but Muhammad Arfan (0) was out trying a reverse hit, knocking down his own stumps. Man of the Match Omarzai finally ended Sohaib’s resistance in the 19th over, capping an impressive spell.