Afghanistan notched up a comfortable victory against minnows Namibia by 62 runs on Sunday, as former skipper and veteran batsman Asghar Afghan bid farewell to the game after announcing his retirement earlier in the day. Naveen-ul-Haq starred with the ball, setting up a huge Afghanistan victory.
Afghan captain Mohammed Nabi won the coin toss and decided to bat first, following which Hazratullah Zazai got them off to a very good start, while Mohammed Shahzad played second fiddle. Zazai played expansive shots on his way to a 27-ball 33, as Afghanistan ended the powerplay on a strong 50/0.
Zazai was dismissed in the seventh over as he holed to deep square leg, with JJ Smit breaking the opening stand. Rahmanullah Gurbaz also made it back to the pavilion after a brief stay in the middle. Shahzad then started to play some big shots, keeping the Afghanistan scoreboard ticking. However, even he couldn’t capitalise as he became a victim of the sensational Ruben Trumplemann.
Asghar Afghan then walked into the ground for the final innings of his illustrious international career, as the Namibian players gave him a guard of honour.
After Zadran’s dismissal, he was accompanied by skipper Mohammed Nabi, who also played a valuable cameo. The two veteran batsmen scored crucial 30s as the Afghanistan innings ended on a formidable total of 160/5.
The Namibian openers walked out to bat with their task cut out but never looked in any position to chase it down. They had a disastrous powerplay, scoring only 29 runs while also losing three wickets. There was no way back from there as the entire Namibian batting collapsed, losing wickets far too frequently. Hamid Hassan was fantastic as he bowled a spell of (4-0-9-3), which included an incredible 16 dot balls. This was the final nail in the coffin for Namibia as Afghanistan applied the chokehold on their batting order.
The Namibian batsmen batted until the last ball, stuttering to the very end and eventually ending on 98/9 after their 20 overs, as Afghanistan wrapped up a huge 62-run win. An emotional Afghan, who called time on his career, spoke fondly of the Afghanistan team in his post-match interview. It was a fitting tribute by the Afghanistan side to one of their stalwarts. Naveen ul-Haq picked up the man of the match award for his excellent bowling spell of 3/26.
Brief scores
Afghanistan – 160/5 in 20 overs (Shahzad-45(33); Zazai-33(27); Loftie-Eaton-2/21; Trumplemann- 2/34)
Namibia- 98/9 in 20 overs (Wiese-26(30); Hassan-3/9; Naveen ul-Haq-3/26)
Afghanistan beat Namibia by 62 runs.
