Mujeeb Ur Rahman destroyed Scotland’s batting unit to help Afghanistan register a 130-run win in Match 17 of the Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 in Sharjah. Mujeeb finished with 5-20. Three of his wickets came in the fourth over and one more in the sixth after Scotland came to chase 191.
Scotland began the chase well, but the contest was done and dusted after that fourth over. They never recovered after slipping from 28/0 to 28/3. In the end, they were bundled out for 60 in 10.2 overs, the joint fourth-lowest total in the history of the tournament. It was also the third-biggest margin of win in T20 World Cups by runs, and the biggest for Afghanistan.
The Scotland innings had five leg-before dismissals, the joint most in a T20I innings, along with the Netherlands innings against Sri Lanka earlier in the tournament. George Munsey top-scored for Scotland, with 25. Whatever was left after that Mujeeb carnage was mopped up by Rashid Khan (4-9).
Earlier in the evening, Najibullah Zadran’s 34-ball 59, Hazratullah Zazai’s 30-ball 44 and Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s 37-ball 46 helped Afghanistan to reach 190/4, their highest total in T20 World Cups. Mohammad Shahzad also chipped in with 22 off 15 balls, while Mohammad Nabi remained unbeaten on a 4-ball 11, which includes two fours.
Mark Watt was the pick of the Scottish bowlers, with 1-23. Safyaan Sharif picked up two wickets, but conceded 33. The others went for ten or more an over.
The margin of victory helped Afghanistan gain a healthy net run rate to move to the top of Group 2, dethroning Pakistan.
Brief scores: Afghanistan 190/4 in 20 overs (Najibullah Zadran 59; Safyaan Sharif 2-33) beat Scotland 60 in 10.2 overs (George Munsey 25; Mujeeb Ur Rahman 5-20, Rashid Khan 4-9) by 130 runs. Player of the Match: Mujeeb Ur Rahman.