UAE eye middle-order fix against wounded Afghanistan

UAE will look to plug their middle-order frailties, particularly against spin, when they take on a hurting Afghanistan in a must-win Group D clash of the T20 World Cup on Monday. The two sides head into the contest after contrasting results in their previous outings. UAE scraped past Canada to register their first win, while Afghanistan suffered a heartbreaking defeat despite pushing their last game into two Super Overs in one of the greatest T20 matches.

With South Africa and New Zealand occupying the top two spots in the group with six and four points respectively, UAE’s qualification hopes hinge on a combination of victories and favourable results elsewhere.

Afghanistan, meanwhile, are desperate to open their account after coming agonisingly close against South Africa. They not only need to win their remaining matches convincingly but also rely on other outcomes to stay in contention. UAE were handed a 10-wicket thrashing by New Zealand earlier and appeared headed for another defeat when Canada reduced them to 66 for 4 in the 13th over while chasing 150.

Their top and middle order struggled against spin before opener Aryansh Sharma (74 off 53) anchored the chase. Sohaib Khan’s late surge (51 off 29) then helped them complete a remarkable turnaround. However, UAE’s batting will face a sterner test against Afghanistan’s formidablespin trio of captain Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi. “I think we have to improve our batting in the middle overs from 7 to 15, 16th over.

I think there we have to look after,” UAE skipper Muhammad Waseem had said after the win over Canada. “So, in the upcoming games, we will work on that and that is the one part of the game where we have to work.” UAE’s bowling unit found rhythm against Canada with pacer Junaid Siddique claiming five wickets, but containing the likes of Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Gulbadin Naib and Azmatullah Omarzai will demand a collective effort.

The 23-year-old Gurbaz was outstanding in the last game, smashing 84 off 42 balls to take Afghanistan to 187 in regulation time.  He then struck three sixes in succession in the second Super Over but fell short as Afghanistan ended up on the losing side. Omarzai also picked up three wickets, while Rashid claimed two.