U.A.E. vs Afghanistan, 3rd Match at Sharjah, UAE Tri-Series, Sep 01 2025 - Ball by Ball Commentary

10:54pm That will be all from us for today. We will be back tomorrow as Afghanistan take on Pakistan. Until then, from Chandan and myself (Shashwat), this is goodbye!

Sharafuddin Ashraf, Player of the Match: Thanks to all the people who came to support us in a difficult time. We have a very good spin department, good magicians. The way Rashid trusted me on my ability, the way I can participate for the team, for that, we do whatever is needed by the team. (Most comfortable bowling phase) Depends on the situation. I try always to read the situation and what I am getting from the wicket and what the batter is trying to do. I have a lot of experience (of bowling in the powerplay), so trying to use it. If you look at spin bowling, Nabi is still bowling and changing his pace very well. In T20 cricket, you have to believe in your ability to create some magic on the field. The most important (thing) is self-belief. (On if this is his first POTM award) I had got one on my debut as well. Great occasion for me - thanks to Rashid Khan for supporting me in a difficult time. He trusted my ability and saw my hard work throughout the years, and not something I got just because of one day, and there was a lot of hard work behind it.

Rashid Khan, Afghanistan captain: (On how he chooses his spinners) That is a tough question. It is always very hard. You have to keep two main spinners. You cannot have 3-4 spinners. Noor and Ghazanfar were on the bench, two magicians. You have to see who can deliver. You have to go with two spinners, which is me and Mujeeb. Sharaf was a tough decision (over Noor and Ghazanfar) - the batting ability he has, we wanted to have him. (On bowling plans) To keep things simple - that is something which is important for me. The length is very important. The right length is the key and if you keep bowling there, you will get the right results. Batters might hit it for boundaries, but you need to have in your mind that if you hit it, you will get the right results. I don't care if you bowl leg spin or wrong ones, you have to hit the right lengths. (On taking time at the start with the bat) That is the plus point. The batting department, they are taking responsibility. They went through the tough time and did not give away wickets. I felt so happy with that - the mindset of Ibrahim and Sediq. Later on, Azmat, Darwish and Karim, they finished well. That is an area where we struggled in the past and that is something we are working hard on. (On if they feel better-prepared to take on Pakistan tomorrow) Definitely. Win gives you that positive energy. But we are always well-prepared. Such games that you have with such big teams, it takes time to adjust yourselves. That (last game against Pakistan) was kind of a wake-up call for us. Bring your best game, and then see who wins. We cannot bring our low game (against a team like Pakistan).

Muhammad Waseem, UAE captain: We did not bowl well in the last ten overs, gave away so many runs. We were going well after 8-9 overs (in the chase). We surely lose the game (after that), losing two wickets - myself and Asif Khan. (On his hitting) Not happy to be honest with my work because I could not finish the game. We will learn from today as well. Always we are giving runs in the last ten overs. Today as well, we will take the positives and then look at where we are giving away boundaries and hopefully work on it.

10:33pm A comfortable win for Afghanistan and once Waseem was dismissed, the result never really seemed in doubt. Rashid did what Rashid usually does through the middle overs, keeping a lid on the run-scoring and picking up crucial wickets. Ashraf was not shabby either, accounting for Waseem and bagging two other scalps to truly throw the UAE run-chase into disarray.

There were positives for the UAE, namely the pyrotechnics of their skipper and the late-overs hitting of Chopra. But in between, they did not have enough substance, with them ultimately falling 38 runs short.

Chopra on 46. Can he get to fifty? That is probably the only sub-plot remaining in this game

Chopra might want to reduce the margin of defeat as much as possible

Farooqi to bowl the penultimate over