What a show Afghanistan put up in their first match of the T20 World Cup of 2021. Afghanistan defeated Scotland by a heavy margin of 130 runs. Everything went right for the Afghans as they opted to bat first and put up a mammoth score of 190 runs in their quota of 20 overs. The rest was history as the Afghan spinners rolled over Scotland’s batting line-up. Scotland was bowled out for just 60 runs in 10.2 overs. Scotland had no answers to the spin bowling duo of Afghanistan, as they crumbled and lost by a heavy margin which has impacted their net run rate.
Afghan’s dominant performance
Afghan openers, Zazai and Shahzad, scored at a strike rate of more than 145 as both opened the innings. They provided the perfect platform for Najibullah Zadran, who flourished with the bat as he scored 59 runs off just 34 balls, hitting at a phenomenal strike rate of 173.53. He was the star performer for Afghanistan with the bat in hand. It was raining boundaries during the Afghanistan innings. Zadran himself hit five boundaries and three maximums. For Scotland, Mark Watt was the only bowler who didn’t go for runs as he bowled at an economy rate of 5.75 and, he also picked up a big wicket of Zazai, who was looking to accelerate. Afghan batsmen put up a great target on board, but the game changed in the second innings for Scotland. The Scottish batsmen had no clue about which way the ball was going, as the Afghan spinners were lethal in the second phase of the match. Scotland started well as they hit the Afghan captain, Nabi for 11 runs in the first over.
But it was then the Afghan mystery spinners duo of Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan who left nothing for the Scottish batsmen, as the duo picked up nine wickets out of ten. Mujeeb picked up five wickets in his quota of four overs. Three of them came in a single over, and it destroyed the Scottish hopes of chasing the target down. He gave away just 20 runs and bowled at an economy rate of five. His brother and the king of the white ball, Rashid also bowled splendidly well as he gave away just nine runs in 2.2 overs. Rashid picked up four wickets at a remarkable economy rate of just 3.86. It was a completely dominant performance by the Afghans, and Scotland had no chance in the match even once.
What went wrong for Scotland
It was a day to forget if you are a Scotland fan as they couldn’t even get close to Afghanistan’s target of 190. Scotland had an off day both with the ball and bat in hand. Scotland was put to bowl by Afghanistan, and they couldn’t get hold of the flourishing Afghan batsmen. Afghanistan was off to a flyer as the openers put up an opening partnership of 54 off just 35 balls. The Scottish bowlers then managed to take another wicket quickly, but then Zadran and Gurbaz’s partnership took the game away from them. Together they scored 87 off 52 balls, which took Afghanistan to a mammoth score of 190. In the second innings, Scotland was off to a flyer as they scored 28 off the first three overs. But it was Mujeeb’s second over, which broke the shackles as he took three wickets for just a run, and Scotland’s batting then started to collapse. Scotland had no clue as nine out of their ten batsmen were dismissed bowled or LBW by the Afghan spinners. Afghan spinners attacked the stumps, and the Scottish batsmen had no idea which way the ball was turning. Scotland kept losing wickets at regular intervals, and Afghans never gave them a chance to take hold of the match at any point in time. Scotland had a disappointing outing in their first match of the Super 12 as they collapsed to a lethal bowling effort by Afghanistan.
Conclusion: Afghanistan’s comprehensive victory
Afghanistan recorded their largest margin of victory in terms of runs in the match as they defeated Scotland by a margin of 130 runs. It’s a mind-blowing achievement as in a T20 game the margins are very few. Afghanistan’s victory over Scotland was the second-highest in the category of largest margin of victory in terms of runs in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Sri Lanka holds first place, as they have defeated Kenya by 172 runs, and South Africa is second with their victory over Scotland by 130 runs which is equivalent to Afghanistan’s victory over Scotland in yesterday’s match. It was Afghanistan’s day as they completely crushed Kyle Coetzer’s men. It was a complete performance by the Afghans as they commanded the match, with both bat and ball, and cruised to their first win in their first match in this year’s World Cup. Afghan’s have announced their arrival with a bang, and all the teams in Group 2 should be scared by Mohammad Nabi’s men. On the other hand, Scotland has to regroup and think about its future matches.