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Player of the Match
Player of the Match

Trott welcomes NRR boost after Afghanistan's rout of Uganda

Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott believes that their net-run-rate-boosting win against Uganda will stand them in good stead in Group C, which also includes co-hosts West Indies and New Zealand. Afghanistan started their campaign with a 125-run demolition of World Cup debutants Uganda, Fazalhaq Farooqi leading the way with figures of 5 for 9. Their NRR is currently 6.25.

"I think in a tight group with the quality of sides, net run-rate may play its part," Trott said after the game. "I don't worry too much about the weather and the rain, and that's up to the cricketing gods. But I think it's more of a confidence boost the way that we played and finished off the game as well. I think Fazal [Farooqi] bowled really well, and helped the whole team. So that's pleasing."

It was the opening pair of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran that set the tone for victory with a 154-run partnership - the second highest for the first wicket in the men's T20 World Cup. Though Ibrahim's dismissal triggered a collapse of 5 for 29 in the end overs and slowed Afghanistan down - they didn't score a single boundary in the last six overs of their innings - their 183 for 5 proved too much for Uganda.

"I think obviously our opening partnership was really good and set a great platform," Trott said. "I think obviously we didn't capitalise on it as much as we could and that's something we need to work on going forward. So, the exciting thing is there's still things we can do better and as a coach that's obviously the challenge for the players but also exciting for us if we can get that right.

"I think coming into the tournament and starting on these wickets, especially against a slightly older ball, is a little bit tricky. So we've got to get better at that. We only scored 30-odd in the last six overs and with the platform we had, we should have done a bit better. We shuffled the order a little bit, and maybe that's our fault a little bit, as coaches, decision making, mixing the order up a little bit left-right hand


"We want to look at that and hopefully get that right next game. There's always areas to improve. Fielding, bowling, death bowling, variations, boundary hitting. So we're looking to improve the whole time."

Farooqi warmed the bench at Sunrisers Hyderabad throughout IPL 2024, but he hit the ground running in his first T20I for Afghanistan in this World Cup, bagging his first five-for in the format. Two of those five wickets came in the very first over of Afghanistan's defence, and Uganda were eventually dismissed for 58 in 16 overs.

"It looks like he's worked really hard on his game," Trott said. "I am very pleased for him today. The way that he was able to bowl and stuck to his plans. He showed his skill that he is able to swing the ball and take wickets early. It always creates trouble for the opposition and gets us going in the right direction."

Uganda captain happy with their death bowling

Despite the heavy defeat, Uganda captain Brian Masaba took heart from their comeback with the ball in the death overs after the early assault from Gurbaz and Ibrahim. It was the first instance of a team not conceding a single boundary in the last six overs of a men's T20 World Cup innings. Masaba and seamer Cosmas Kyewuta shared four wickets between them to tie down Afghanistan's middle-order hitters.

"That's a huge bonus for us. In a T20 game, very often the game can go very quickly in the last five overs," Masaba said. "Especially considering the fact that we are under the pump for most of the innings. So to come back like that and restrict them the way we did, it's a huge bonus for us. We'll look to carry that into our games going forward."

Uganda 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st4S SsesaziRB Patel
2nd0RG MukasaS Ssesazi
3rd4S SsesaziRiazat Ali Shah
4th10DM NakraniRiazat Ali Shah
5th0Riazat Ali ShahAR Ramjani
6th29Riazat Ali ShahR Obuya
7th0B MasabaR Obuya
8th1Bilal HassunR Obuya
9th10C KyewutaBilal Hassun
10th0H SsenyondoC Kyewuta

ICC Men's T20 World Cup

Super Eights, Group 1
TeamMWLPTNRR
IND33062.017
AFG3214-0.305
AUS3122-0.331
BAN3030-1.709
Super Eights, Group 2
TeamMWLPTNRR
SA33060.599
ENG32141.992
WI31220.963
USA3030-3.906
Group A
TeamMWLPTNRR
IND43071.137
USA42150.127
PAK42240.294
CAN4123-0.493
IRE4031-1.293
Group B
TeamMWLPTNRR
AUS44082.791
ENG42153.611
SCOT42151.255
NAM4132-2.585
OMA4040-3.062
Group C
TeamMWLPTNRR
WI44083.257
AFG43161.835
NZ42240.415
UGA4132-4.51
PNG4040-1.268
Group D
TeamMWLPTNRR
SA44080.47
BAN43160.616
SL41230.863
NED4132-1.358
NEP4031-0.542