Asghar finishes off on a winning note
Two nights after running Pakistan close, Afghanistan proved their experience on the big stage was a bridge too far for Namibia. Asghar Afghan, Afghanistan’s most-successful T20I captain, was given a winning send off into retirement as the team notched up their second win in three games to keep Group 2 alive.
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Hassan, Rashid derail Namibia
Namibia have been crippled here. And there's an air of inevitability to this chase. Losing half their side at the halfway mark has caused a huge dent. Much of it thanks to the returning Hamid Hassan, who has picked up two wickets in three overs, including the big scalps of JJ Smit and Gerhard Erasmus. Hassan is returning after a gap of five years, mind you. Rashid got through his overs typically with control and guile to bowl out by the 14th over. He's one short of 400 T20 wickets.
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8 Eight out of the 11 maiden overs bowled inside the Powerplay in all T20 World Cups have come in this edition.
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Namibia up against it
Namibia needed to go big in the Powerplay, and while their intent in going after Nabi has been the right call, losing two inside the first six hasn't helped their cause. They're 29 for 3 in the sixth over. Considering there's four overs of Rashid to come, they would've ideally liked to be closer to 50 for a wicket fewer. Once again, it's all up to Gerhard Erasmus, JJ Smit and David Wiese to do the dirty work.
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Nabi, Afghan give Afghanistan 160 to defend
Just three fours and a six - all off Nabi - in the last five. While that has pushed Afghanistan to 160, which is 10 more than what ESPNcricinfo's Predictor pegged them to get when he walked in, they'd feel they could've touched 170, especially after where they were placed at the halfway mark. Nabi finished 32 not out off 17 deliveries, while Afghan made a 23-ball 31 to finish as Afghanistan's third-highest run-getter in T20Is. They will definitely back themselves to defend this.
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When these two sides met last in 2017
Asghar Afghan was Afghanistan captain, Mohammad Shahzad their opener, who gave them a quick start. Mohammad Nabi was their senior allrounder and Rashid Khan a rookie just making a mark after a pathbreaking Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh. Jan Frylinck, Namibia's pace spearhead here, was leading the attack then too. Craig Williams was yet to take a break to join his family business and become an insurance surveyor full-time.
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The Afghan slowdown
147 What ESPNcricinfo's Forecaster pegs Afghanistan to get after the Mohammad Shahzad wicket. He was tiring, and eventually fell to a smart piece of captaincy from Gerhard Erasmus, who had him caught at a fly slip in the 13th over. Afghanistan 89/3.
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Loftie-Eaton and his legbreaks
Legspinner Loftie-Eaton has delivered two tight overs. Unlike Rashid Khan, Loftie-Eaton belongs to the Yuzi Chahal school of legspin, relying on flight and dip. Twice he beat Rahmanullah in the air, before eventually trapping him lbw as he tried to sweep a full delivery. He elicited a false shot in seven of the 12 balls he bowled.
Asghar Afghan, Afghanistan's first Test captain, who is set to retire after this match, walks out to a guard of honour from the Namibians. Having first begun his career at the Under-17 level in 2004, Afghan will retire as their most-successful T20I skipper. Does he have one final punch left?
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Namibia pull things back
Just the kind of control they needed after the Powerplay. Shahzad in trying to premeditate has lost his shape quite a bit, Rahmanullah struggling for timing. An opportunity to get through a few quiet overs.
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A tale of two overs from Trumpelmann
In their first game of the Super 12s, Trumpelmann's first over yielded three wickets. As such, he didn't too anything too differently here today. The same full deliveries that swing late beat the bat once, flew off the edge for four and another was hoicked wide of mid-on. That night, the scorecard read 2/3, and his first spell an impressive 2-0-3-3. Here, he hasn't bowled badly at all, yet the figures read 2-0-20-0. Can he make amends? Afghanistan are off to a solid start. 37 for 0 in 5 overs.
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Hamid Hassan back after five years
Five years after he last appeared in a T20I, Hamid Hassan, the fast bowler, is back in Afghanistan's XI. Since he last played, Hassan has dabbled into coaching, commentary, and back again on the field playing.
He replaces the injured Mujeeb Ur Rahman. Afghanistan believe runs on the board is the best way to go about this in Abu Dhabi. Namibia are unchanged.
Afghanistan: 1 Hazratullah Zazai, 2 Mohammad Shahzad (wk), 3 Rahmanullah Gurbaz, 4 Asghar Afghan, 5 Najibullah Zadran, 6 Mohammad Nabi (capt), 7 Karim Janat, 8 Gulbadin Naib, 9 Rashid Khan, 10 Naveen-ul-Haq, 11 Hamid Hassan
Namibia: 1 Craig Williams, 2 Michael van Lingen, 3 Jan Loftie-Eaton, 4 Gerhard Erasmus (capt), 5 Zane Green (wk), 6 JJ Smit, 7 David Wiese, 8 Jan Frylinck, 9 Pikky Ya France, 10 Ruben Trumpelmann, 11 Bernard Scholtz
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Farewell, Asghar Afghan
Asghar Afghan, among the early pace-setters for the game in Afghanistan, is set to retire after this match. It's a surprise decision given it comes in the middle of their campaign. He will walk away a record-holder, for the most wins as captain in T20Is: Afghanistan won 42 games in the format under him, with nine losses and one tie, while India won 41 under MS Dhoni, to go with 28 losses, one tie and two no-results.
His role as a leader, however, has been a bit up and down lately. In May 2019, the Afghanistan board had taken the all-format captaincy away from Asghar and put in place a three-way captaincy formula. In December, he was brought back for one more stint. And here he is now, signing off under Nabi, who incidentally is a late replacement after Rashid Khan stepped down.
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Another day in the sun for history-making Namibia
Namibia are on a high. A high of the kind they haven't experienced previously at World Cups. After an off day against Sri Lanka, they bounced back to beat Namibia and Ireland to enter the Super 12s. There, in their opening game, they overcame a resurgent Scotland. Having beaten sides who have all at some stage held the bragging rights for being known as the top Associate (Yes, Ireland, formerly Associates, are now Full Members), they now run into a formidable Afghanistan, who on their day can beat the best in the business.
At the 2016 T20 World Cup, Afghanistan beat West Indies. Two nights ago, they ran Pakistan really close. So there's little doubt as to who is the favourite for this one. Anyone writing Afghanistan off and assuming it's a battle between India and New Zealand, possibly, for the second semi-final slot from the group, will be doing a lot of disservice to Nabi's men. Stay locked, let's hope this one is a cracker.
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