Farooqi's fivefer led Afganistan Victorious over Uganda

After a strong opening combination between Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran, Afghanistan’s bowler Fazalhaq Farooqi bowled a fire spell to start their T20 World Cup campaign with a comfortable 125-run victory against Uganda here.

Afghanistan faced a tough 183/5 after being called to bat, but Kolkata Knight Riders opener Gurbaz (76 off 45 balls) and his partner Zadran (70 off 46 balls) blasted fluent fifties to create the second greatest opening partnership (154) in the men’s T20 World Cup.

Fabulous Farooqi 💫

The Afghanistan opening bowler takes home the @aramco POTM after he returned excellent figures of 5/9 🏅#T20WorldCup #AFGvUGA pic.twitter.com/34JqOMtlGe
— ICC (@ICC) June 4, 2024

After that, left-arm bowler Farooqi (5/9) whacked the debutants out for 58 in 16 overs, taking the wind out of the Ugandan batting lineup with his first-ever five-wicket haul. “The type of start our squad was hoping for. It all comes down to mentality, not who we play. After the game, captain and greatest cricket legend in the nation, Rashid Khan, remarked, “The hard work we have done in the last few weeks, the way the openers started, and the way our bowlers bowled – it was a great overall team effort.” The captain, who also finished off the tail, underlined his enthusiasm about heading the nation at an international gathering. “I’m really delighted and excited to be captain of the squad at the World Cup.

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Farooqi twice Close to a Hat-Trick

This team’s beauty lies in that. The best T20 spinner in the world stated, “We have so many options, and that makes it easy as a captain.”
Twice, seamer Farooqi came close to recording a hat-trick. With the new ball, he was deadly. He was struck for a four off the first ball, but then he produced an incredible in-swinger that crashed against the stumps after clipping Ronak Patel’s bat. Then, off successive balls, he trapped Roger Mukasa leg before wicket with another in swinger. “A few occasions, I have failed to score the hat-trick (smiles). When picking up his “Player of the Match” award, Farooqi stated, “Something that is not under my control and if I get a chance again, I will try to get that hat-trick.”

In the 13th over, Farooqi made a comeback and claimed three more wickets to record his highest-ever T20I career total.

In order to get skipper Brian Masaba to nick the ball, which an eager Gurbaz collected, he first tricked Riazat Ali Shah with a slower delivery, bowling him out.

The final ball of the over, he nabbed his fifth victim but lost out on another hat-trick. “I wanted to hit the wickets, so I kept things simple. Franchise cricket is a great way to develop and prepare for big events. Playing with so many elite players helps you handle pressure and place your bowling strikes,” stated Farooqi, an IPL veteran who has represented SRH in past years.

Afghanistan’s Strong Opening Partnership

Afghanistan’s openers got off to a great start earlier thanks to a quick outfield and a ball that came into the bat wonderfully. Gurbaz was the first to take the offensive, hitting the opening ball of the innings for a six. Zadran immediately followed suit, smashing Dinesh Nakrani for four consecutive boundaries in the sixth over.

Afghanistan was scoring at an astonishing 11 runs per over at the end of the first powerplay.With four boundary catches and an equal number of sixes, Gurbaz reached his fifty in the ninth over with just 28 balls. In contrast, Zadran completed his half century in the 12th over after sending the ball to the fence nine times and over it once.

Uganda’s problems were made worse by their subpar fielding

Afghanistan quickly reached 150 runs after Gurabaz was dropped off a no-ball in the 14th over, which produced 25 runs.

The pair seemed to bat for the entire 20 overs, but Ugandan bowlers retaliated, limiting the score to about 200. Afghanistan’s next test against a powerful New Zealand team will be immensely more difficult. “This is a big game for us. It’s all about keeping things basic,” Rashid remarked.