Rashid Khan reaches a remarkable milestone in unconventional fashion as Afghanistan edged UAE by five wickets to keep their slim World Cup hopes alive.
The leg-spinner collected his 700th T20 wicket in a way that he had never achieved with any of his 699 prior victims—a hit wicket. UAE batter Muhammad Arfan attempted a reverse sweep against Afghanistan captain Rashid in the 15th over but instead clipped the stumps with his bat.
This wicket marked Rashid’s 191st in T20 internationals, and when combined with his List A domestic T20 tally of 509 dismissals, it made him the first player to reach 700 T20 wickets across all formats. Impressively, it is the only time in 11,794 balls bowled in T20 cricket that Rashid has taken a wicket this way.
Rashid finished with figures of 1 for 24 from four overs, while Azmatullah Omarzai was Afghanistan’s best bowler with 4 for 15 as UAE were restricted to 160 for 9 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
Sohaib Khan led UAE’s charge with 68 off 48 balls, hitting six fours and four sixes, while Alishan Sharafu contributed 40 from 31 deliveries.
Afghanistan’s innings got off to a rocky start with Rahmanullah Gurbaz out for a duck, but Ibrahim Zadran steadied the ship with a measured 53 off 21 balls to push the chase forward.
Muhammad Arfan claimed 2 for 30 for UAE, slowing Afghanistan’s momentum, but Omarzai proved pivotal in the later stages, delivering with both bat and ball.
The all-rounder smashed an undefeated 40 from 21 balls, guiding Afghanistan to victory with four balls to spare.
This win earned Afghanistan their first points in Group D. They face New Zealand in their final group game, needing a win and a superior net run rate to overtake both the Black Caps and UAE.
UAE, on two points, must win their last match against South Africa and improve their net run rate to stay ahead of New Zealand and Afghanistan in the standings.
