Shahzad, Hassan help Afghanistan make it 2-0

Afghanistan wrapped up the Twenty20 series against Scotland 2-0 with another thumping win in Sharjah. Hamid Hassan picked up four wickets to restrict Scotland to 139, then Mohammad Shahzad produced another impactful innings to help the team achieve the target with 15 balls to spare.

Scotland chose to bat and lost opener Richie Berrington in the first over. They produced a better batting performance than the first match as Matt Machan and Calum McLeod steered the team to 74 for 2 in the 11th over. But once Machan was out to Samiullah Shenwari, regular wickets kept tumbling. Only Moneeb Iqbal's late runs helped them to 139, before Hassan collected two wickets off the last two balls.

Afghanistan started their chase at a frenetic pace with Karim Sadiq taking 15 runs off the second over. Sadiq put up a half-century stand with Nawroz Mangal, and once they were out, Shahzad continued his form from the previous match by scoring 46 off 25 balls. his innings included three boundaries and two sixes and though he was out in the 15th over, he had taken the team only 15 runs short of the win, which the other batsmen completed easily.

The two teams are now scheduled to play two ODIs in Sharjah followed by an ICC Intercontinental Cup match in Abu Dhabi.