Afghanistan vs Scotland Match Highlights & Results

Right then, that is all we have from this game. The action in the T20 World Cup continues tomorrow as we have another double-header for you. West Indies will take on South Africa in the first match, followed by a spicy clash between Pakistan and New Zealand. The first match will start at 2 pm local time (10 am GMT). Do join us tomorrow for all the action. Till then, cheers!

The victorious skipper, Mohammad Nabi, of Afghanistan, is up for a chat. He says, this was their plan, to opt to bat and put on a big score. Praises the openers to get going off to a flyer. Adds, Mujeeb and Rashid Khan did what they do best, says it was a treat to watch. Mentions, in the nets there is no respect as the batters pick the bowlers all across the ball. On being asked about Mujeeb’s performance, he says, it was his first World Cup game and ended up being the Man of the Match what better could he have asked for.

Kyle Coetzer, the skipper of Scotland, says that it was clearly a bad day. Says they have played good cricket before but credit to Afghanistan on how they played. Says Mark Watt played really well for them. Feels that they fought hard but it was a level-check for them and they will hope to get better in the next game. Adds that they have belief among the players and as a group, they will keep moving forward as there is no time to sit back.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman is the PLAYER OF THE MATCH for his incredible spell of 4-0-20-5. He says this win is for the whole nation. Goes on to say, the people keep the side motivated. He is also glad to perform in his very first World Cup game. Adds that the supporters give positive energy and that gives the side the extra push.

... PRESENTATION ...

Earlier in the day, Mohammad Nabi won the toss and decided to bat first, with which his counterpart, Kyle Coetzer was pretty happy as well. Coetzer though would not have been happy at half-time as Afghanistan put on a staggering total of 190 runs on board. It was really the second half which was even more disappointing for Scotland as they got bundled out for 60 runs and went on to lose the match by 130 runs. A complete performance from Afghanistan with both the bat and ball and they will be very pleased with it. It's time now for the presentation ceremony...

When it rains, it pours. Well, it rained sixes early on for Afghanistan and then in the second innings wickets poured as well, that too at a rate of knots. The skipper, Mohammad Nabi didn't start off well with the ball but then Mujeeb Ur Rahman came back for his second over and picked up three wickets in that one. This over from Mujeeb Ur Rahman set the tone for things to come as Afghanistan piled on more misery on the Scottish batters. Naveen-ul-Haq picked up a wicket and then it was Rashid Khan who cleaned up the tail with a four-fer. Mujeeb Ur Rahman ended with 5/20, which is also the fifth-best bowling figure in T20 World Cup history. Afghanistan have put on a dominating show in their first match and if this is a sign of things to come, this 'so-called' weaker group will get very interesting.

Scotland started off on a high as George Munsey reversed everything to the boundary. The skipper, Kyle Coetzer was also positive but it just lasted for three overs. In the fourth over, the skipper fell victim to Mujeeb Ur Rahman and then the next two batters, Calum MacLeod and Richie Berrington followed suit in the same over. Matthew Cross fell in the next over for a duck as well and then, the only batter holding fort, Munsey was knocked over by Mujeeb Ur Rahman. This was the final nail in the coffin as Rashid Khan came in and sent the lower order packing. After a terrific performance in the previous stage of the tournament, Scotland have put on a seriously disappointing performance in their first Super 12 match.

The Scottish flame didn't burn too long as it was blown out early by Afghanistan and one person in particular, Mujeeb Ur Rahman. This is a thumping victory for Afghanistan and the scenes from the ground show how much this means to them. Scotland have been completely outplayed and outclassed today.

OUT! TIMBER! Rashid Khan gets rid of Brad Wheal on a golden duck. Afghanistan have won the game by a huge margin. Floated, full and on off. Wheal looks to defend it out but misses. The ball goes through the gap between the bat and the pad. The ball shatters the stumps behind and it is lights out for Scotland. AFGHANISTAN WIN THE GAME BY 130 RUNS.

Brad Wheal is the last man in for Scotland.

Scotland have taken the review for an LBW decision. UltraEdge shows that there is no bat involved and Ball Tracker confirms that the ball is going onto hit the leg stump. Chris Greaves has to depart and Scotland lose the review.

OUT! LBW! Rashid Khan picks up his third wicket. Scotland are nine down now. This has been a brutal performance by the Afghan spinners. They did not let the batters breathe here. Loopy ball, around leg. Davey looks to play the reverse sweep but misses. He gets rapped on his pads. Khan appeals and the umpire raises his finger in a flash. Davey decides to use the review. The UltraEdge shows no bat is involved. The Ball Tracker shows three reds and Davey has to walk back to the dressing room.

DRINKS! Well, it's all but over for Scotland and the first half of this innings has completed belonged to one man, Mujeeb Ur Rahman. The Scottish batters have had no answer for the Afghan spin as Rashid Khan has picked up a couple of wickets as well. With just 2 wickets remaining, Afghanistan will be looking to end this one soon.

Drags the length back, on off. Davey pulls it to mid-wicket for one more. 131 needed in 60 balls.

A length ball, slanting on the pads. Davey misses his flick and gets hit on the pads.

Full and on off. Sharif hits it off the inner half to mid-wicket and takes a single.

WIDE! Another one angling down the leg side. Sharif misses his tuck.

Full and angling down, whipped to deep square leg for one.

WIDE! Angles it way down the leg side. Davey misses his flick.

On a length, outside off. Sharif punches to covers for one run.

A length ball, angling on the pads, flicked to mid-wicket.

Karim Janat comes into the attack now.

A full ball, spinning back in, on middle. Sharif nudges it to mid-wicket for a single.

Safyaan Sharif is in at number 10.

OUT! LBW! Rashid Khan gets his second wicket and Scotland's struggle continues against the spinners. They have gotten a bitter taste of the bigger stage, not how they wanted to start their campaign. Floated, full and around off. Greaves lunges forward and looks to defend it out but misses. He gets rapped on the pads and that's is plumb. Khan appeals and the umpire raises his finger in a flash.

Flatter and on off. Davey works it to mid-wicket off the inner half. A single now.

LEG BYE! Loopy ball, on the pads. Chris Greaves looks to flick it away but misses. The ball takes the pads and rolls out. The batters collect another leg bye.

FOUR! Nicely played. Full and on off. Chris Greaves reverse-sweeps it past point for a boundary.

LEG BYE! Flatter and on the pads. Davey misses his flick. The ball takes the pads and rolls to the leg side. The batters collect a leg bye.

On middle. Josh Davey reverse sweeps it through point for a single.

Josh Davey is the new man in.

OUT! TIMBER! Five-fer for Mujeeb Ur Rahman! What a player! Scotland are just unable to pick the spinners tonight. Flatter and on middle. Mark Watt looks to drive but gets beaten as this one spins back in. Leaves a big gap and the ball travels through to disturb the stumps.

FIVE RUNS! OVERTHROWS! On middle. Chris Greaves tucks it to the right of the bowler and takes a quick single. Mujeeb Ur Rahman has a shy at the bowler's end but misses and the ball rolls to the fence as there was no one backing up.

Flatter and on off. Chris Greaves tries to reverse sweep. He does not middle it and the ball lobs to the left of leg stump.

Now goes for the sweep but finds short fine leg.

Full and on off. Chris Greaves lunges to defend it out.

Flatter and outside off. Chris Greaves shuffles and tucks it to square leg for one more. 151 needed in 78 balls.

Short and outside off, pushed to sweeper cover for a single.

Very full, on middle. Watt blocks it out.

Mark Watt is in at number 8.

Scotland have taken the review for an LBW decision. Will it be third time lucky for them? No is the short answer. UltraEdge shows that clearly there's no bat involved. Ball Tracker shows that the impact is umpire's call and the ball is going onto hit the middle stump. All three LBW decisions have been close and have gone Afghanistan's way.

OUT! LBW! Of course, Rashid Khan joins the party as well! You just can't keep this guy away from the wickets column. A tossed up ball, full on middle. Michael Leask looks to defend but misses and gets hit plumb on the front pad. An appeal and up goes the finger. Scotland though take the review. Ultra Edge shows no bat. Ball Tracker shows impact was umpire's call but wickets were hitting.

A flighted ball, on middle. Chris Greaves looks to sweep but seems to miss and they take a single as the ball rolls to leg side. Given as a run means there might be some bat on it.

Starts with a googly, outside off. Chris Greaves prods to defend and gets an inside edge back on the pads.

Rashid Khan comes into the attack now.

Straight attacking the stumps. Leask pushes it back to the bowler. Pheww! That was some Powerplay, Scotland are 37/5.

Darted on the pads, worked to square leg for a single.

A loopy ball, just around off. Chris Greaves gets low and looks to sweep but misses and gets hit on the pads. The impact was outside off.

Chris Greaves is the new man in.

OUT! TIMBER! The pressure is back on Scotland as Mujeeb Ur Rahman has his tail up. He is picking wickets for fun here! Serves another short ball, flatter and on middle. George Munsey backs away and looks to cut but fails to get any bat on it. The ball sneaks through and rattles the stumps. Half of the Scotland team is back in the hut. 155 needed in 87 balls.

SIX! Releases some pressure piling up on Scotland! Sees a full ball, on off and Musey slog-sweeps it over square leg for a maximum.

Serves a short ball, angling around leg. George Munsey makes room and looks to cut but misses.

Slower, length ball, outside off. Leask punches it to point and shouts 'WAITT".

A length ball, way outside off. Michael Leask fails to chase this wayward delivery.

Very full and on off. Leask squeezes it out to cover.

Michael Leask comes in at number 6.

OUT! STUNNER! Take a bow, Mohammad Shahzad! He has taken an acrobatic catch behind the stumps and another Scottish player walks out on his very first ball. Naveen-ul-Haq hurls and serves it on a length and was outside off. Cross looks to play away from the body but manages an outside edge to the right of the keeper. Mohammad Shahzad there puts a full stretch dive and takes an absolute stunner. Just brilliant. Scotland are 4 down now.

Slower ball, on a length on middle, drilled down to long on for a single.

WIDE! A full ball, down the leg side. Munsey makes room and looks to flick but misses. The keeper does well to dive to his right and stop it.

A length ball, on middle. Munsey blocks it on the off side.

Matthew Cross comes in with his team in a spot of bother.

Scotland have to go for the review and have done so with just 2 seconds left on the timer. The review is for an LBW decision and UltraEdge confirms that there is no bat involved. Just like the previous decision, Ball Tracker shows that the ball is going on to clip the leg stump. Richie Berrington has to depart as well.

OUT! LBW! Mujeeb Ur Rahman gets his third wicket of the over. This is huge. He has taken away the game in just a single over. How many tricks does he have under his sleeve? Googly, around leg. Richie Berrington looks to flick it away but misses. He gets rapped on the pads. Mujeeb Ur Rahman appeals and the umpire raises his finger. Richie Berrington has a chat with his partner and decides to take the review. The UltraEdge shows the bat is absent. The Ball Trackers shows it is umpire's call on ball hitting the wickets and Scotland lose another wicket but not the review. So unlucky, and Mujeeb's second over caused absolute havoc.

BEATEN! Googly, around off. Berrington looks to defend it out but misses, as the ball spins away.

Full and on off. Richie Berrington defends it out safely to deny the Hat-Trick.

Richie Berrington comes in to face the hat-trick ball as two slips are now in place.

Scotland now take a review for an LBW decision. There's no spike on UltraEdge as the ball goes past the bat. The Ball Tracker shows that the ball is just going on to clip the leg stump and hence, the onfield decision of OUT will stay. However, Scotland will not lose the review.

OUT! LBW! Two wickets in two balls. Calum MacLeod goes back on a golden duck. Mujeeb Ur Rahman has a lot of tricks under his sleeve. Floated, around leg. Calum MacLeod hangs back and looks to flick it away but misses. He gets rapped on the pads. Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Shahzad appeal, the umpire takes some time but raises his dreaded finger. Calum MacLeod isn't happy and takes the review. The UltraEdge confirms there no spike as the ball passes the bat. The Ball Tracker shows the wickets are hitting on the umpire's call. The decision stands and Mujeeb Ur Rahman is on a Hat-Trick.

Calum MacLeod comes in at number 3.

OUT! TIMBER! Mujeeb Ur Rahman draws the first blood. The skipper, Kyle Coetzer has to depart now after some good hitting. Loopy ball, around off. Kyle Coetzer comes forward and looks to heave it away but misses. The ball goes through the gap between the bat and the pad to disturb the furniture behind. Mujeeb Ur Rahman is delighted.

Flatter and on leg. Munsey goes back and cuts it towards point for a single.

FOUR Kyle Coetzer gets the second boundary of the over. Short and around off. Kyle Coetzer stays on the back foot and pulls it through mid-wicket for a boundary.

Fuller and outside off. Kyle Coetzer comes across and digs it out safely.

Full-length ball, outside off. Kyle Coetzer looks to heave it away but misses.

FOUR! A nice reply by Kyle Coetzer. On a length, outside off. Kyle Coetzer drives it past mid off and bags a boundary. Wonderful shot.

Mohammad Nabi has decided to take the review for an LBW decision. UltraEdge confirms that there is no bat involved. Ball Tracker shows that the impact is well outside the line of off stump and the onfield decision of NOT OUT stays. Afghanistan do lose the review.

NOT OUT! Afghanistan lose a review here. A length ball, outside off. Kyle Coetzer comes across and looks to defend it but misses. The bounce on the ball though dies after pitching hence the failure to defend it out. Coetzer gets rapped on the pads. Naveen-ul-Haq appeals but the umpire says no. Mohammad Nabi though decides to take it upstairs. The UltraEdge shows no bat is involved. The Ball Tracker shows the impact is outside the line. Kyle Coetzer survives.

A couple to start the over! A length ball, outside off. Kyle Coetzer threads it towards third man for a brace.

A bowling change straightaway as Naveen-ul-Haq is brought into the attack.

Full and around off. Munsey looks to heave it across the line but misses.

On middle, worked to mid-wicket.

Floated, full and on off. Munsey reverse-sweeps it over cover. The batters pick couple before the fielder cuts it out.

FOUR! Nicely played. Tossed up, around middle. Munsey makes room and flicks it through mid-wicket for a boundary.

Reverse sweeps comes out again, but he does not connect this time.

Tossed up, around off. Munsey looks to reverse sweep it but misses. The ball hits the pads.

It's going to be spin from both ends as Mujeeb Ur Rahman comes in from the opposite end.

Full and on middle. Munsey sweeps it to short fine leg and gets a single. A great start by Scotland. 11 runs off it.

Flatter and on leg. Munsey makes room and looks to cut it away but misses.

Tossed up, around off. Munsey reverse-sweeps it to cover. The ball lands a bit short of Rashid Khan there.

SIX! All the way! Scotland need a solid start in the Powerplay and Munsey is giving them that. Full and on off. Mansey reverse-hits it again. The ball takes the top edge and clears the point fence for a biggie.

FOUR! George Munsey gets off the mark with a reverse hit. Full and on off. Munsey changes his stance and reverse sweeps it past point and bags a boundary.

A dot to start with! Floated, outside off. Munsey stays back and pushes it to point.

We are back for the chase! The umpires are out in the middle along with the Afghanistan players. The openers for Scotland, George Munsey and Kyle Coetzer are at the crease. The skipper, Mohammad Nabi to open with the new ball.

... THE RUN CHASE ...

Right then! 191 needed for Scotland to start their campaign on a winning note. It is a tough ask but Scotland do carry some threat and will look to play with freedom. Stay tuned as the chase is about to begin.

Mark Watt says that before the game they knew it's going to be a short boundary on one side and they did their best to protect it. The left-hand, right-hand combination made it a bit more difficult and says that 190 is a par score on this surface. Adds that they have some good players of spin in the middle and is confident that the batters will do the job.

Scotland will be miffed with their performance. Not just their bowlers were wayward but they created very few chances to buy themselves a wicket. It was easy from Afghanistan's point of view, to come and bag themselves runs with ease. Safyaan Sharif took a wicket inside the Powerplay and then Mark Watt improvised to get better of Zazai but after that Scotland just lost their way and Afghanistan planted their front foot. Josh Davey found a way to snatch a wicket at the fag end of the innings but the damage was already done.

Afghanistan were off to a brilliant start as both their openers went bonkers straight from the word go. The powerful duo stitched a partnership of 50 before Mohammad Shahzad gave away his wicket.  Hazratullah Zazai too hit some lust blows before giving away his wicket. Two new batters in the middle phase and Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Najibullah Zadran did extremely well to control the tempo. They scored at a good rate and placed Afghanistan in pole position. Gurbaz fell and then the captain, Mohammad Nabi played a powerful cameo and ended their innings on a high.

Runs galore here at Sharjah. A wonderful batting performance from Afghanistan but mind you Sri Lanka chased down a big total pretty comfortably against Bangladesh yesterday. So, Scotland will keep that in mind and fancy their chance. Nonetheless, we saw some serious power-hitting displays from the Afghan players and they will be very happy going into the break.