Uganda struggle on T20 World Cup debut, lose to Afghanistan

Uganda faced a trial by fire in their opening match of the T20 World Cup, losing to Afghanistan by 125 runs.

The Afghans made 183/5 in 20 overs and in response, the new team from Africa were bowled out for 58 in 16 overs.

Fazalhaq Farooqi gave Afghanistan a strong start dismissing Ronak Patel (4) and Roger Mukasa (0) off back-to-back deliveries. Afghanistan then got their third wicket when Mujeeb Ur Rahman dismissed Simon Ssezai for 4.

Naveen-ul-Haq then took two wickets in his first over, leaving Uganda in dire straits at 18/5.

A brief stand between Riazat Ali and Robinson Obuya steadied the ship for a while, but Farooqi returned to deliver further blows and strengthen Afghanistan's grasp on the game. The pace bowler finished with 5/9.

Earlier, Afghanistan openers took off quickly after being put into bat. Rahmanullah Gurbaz took the lead initially, but Ibrahim Zadran joined him soon after hitting four successive fours in the sixth over. Afghanistan went at 11 runs an over at the end of first powerplay.

Afghanistan crossed the 100-run mark by the 10th over. A 25-run over from Bilal Shah that included five no balls and five wides, helped Afghanistan go past 150. The first wicket partnership realised 154 runs, the second best in T20 World Cup history after 170 not out by Alex Hales and Jos Buttler against India in the 2022 edition.

T20 World Cup, Cricket, Uganda, Afghanistan