United Arab Emirates vs Afghanistan: Sediqullah Atal, Ibrahim Zadran fifties set up massive total

Sediqullah Atal's wait for a international half-century in the shortest format of the game ended on Monday (September 1) as he got to the milestone during the third match of the tri-series, against hosts United Arab Emirates at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Atal's fifty was pivotal to Afghanistan's innings after they lost senior man Rahmanullah Gurbaz cheaply. On a used surface, batting wasn't easy upfront and it took a while before the Afghanistan innings gained momentum and it was largely through Atal.

In just the third delivery of the match, Atal found the fence with a controlled chip straight back over the bowler's head. UAE, however, kept it tight over the next few overs of the Powerplay, while also bagging the big wicket of Gurbaz in the process. In the final over of the PowerPlay, Atal regained some lost ground for his side with an assault on Saghir Khan, taking the pacer for a six and two fours to end the first six overs phase on a reasonable note. Even after the field spread, Atal looked in control and was the enforcer, even as his senior partner Ibrahim Zadran took his time. The duo put on 84-run stand with Atal doing most of the heavy lifting.

The southpaw handled UAE's spin duo well, slamming Haider Ali and Dhruv Parashar for a six apiece. The 24-year-old looked set to bat deep into the innings but fell to a soft dismissal. After copping some stick, Saghir had the last laugh over Atal, with the opener nicking a delivery that bounced just a bit extra off the pitch. Nevertheless, Atal's 40-ball 54 had done the job of setting up Afghanistan's innings as they got to a challenging total. After Atal's dismissal, Zadran carried on and ensured that the momentum wasn't lost, even as UAE's bowlers faltered at the death. 

Zadran's innings was more about sixes than fours. However, after hitting Ali for a boundary in the fifth over, Afghanistan's no.3 didn't find the fence till the 12th over, as Atal took the role of the aggressor. But, once Zadran hit his first six, he tore into the bowling with a few more biggies and boundaries, changing the tempo of the innings in a jiffy.  His and Atal's efforts ensured that UAE's attempts of restricting Afghanistan to a low total didn't materialise on a sluggish pitch.

Cameos from Karim Janat (23* off 10) and Azmatullah Omarzai (20* off 12) propelled Afghanistan well past the 180-run mark. They finished with a daunting total of 188/4 in their 20 overs.