Afghanistan continued to play despite the backdrop of disaster in their homeland as they beat UAE by 38 runs in the tri-nations series in Sharjah.
Rashid Khan took three wickets as he captained his side to victory while back at home his compatriots dealt with the aftermath of Sunday night’s earthquake.
There was a minute’s silence before the start in respect for the victims of the earthquake, which centred in the east of the country, in which at least 800 people were confirmed dead.
Several players in the touring squad had taken to social media in the hours before the game to show their support, as well as share crowdfunding details.
Given the prevailing mood, it was no surprise they made a subdued start, but the home bowlers did have a part to play in that, too.
In particular, Mohammed Rohid was highly impressive. The national team have been waiting to unveil the left-arm swing bowler on international cricket.
The Pakistan-born pacer has caught the eye playing alongside Fazalhaq Farooqi, the Afghan left-arm quick, for MI Emirates in the DP World International League T20 in recent seasons.
He and his new colleagues had been counting down the days for him to become eligible for international cricket via the ICC’s three-year residency rules.
He did so earlier this summer, and he made a low-key introduction in a series in Uganda.
He appears to prefer bigger stages. Against a vaunted Afghanistan batting line-up, he thrived. First, he removed Rahmanullah Gurbaz and later Darwish Rasooli, all while maintaining a relatively thrifty economy – until his last over.
Afghanistan’s batters did find a way to break the shackles, though. Sediqullah Atal and Ibrahim Zadran both made half-centuries, before Karim Janat provided the late overs assault with which the UAE are all too familiar.
Janat snatched what would have been the UAE’s first series win against a Test nation from their grasp with a similar blitz in Abu Dhabi two years ago. This time, he made 23 in 10 balls to lift the Afghans to 188 for four from their 20 overs.
The UAE’s only realistic chance of chasing it relied on the usual means: they needed captain Muhammad Waseem, or middle-order batter Asif Khan, to fire – and ideally both.
The former played his part, and in thrilling fashion. Waseem laced six sixes in a 37-ball innings, which was worth 67. When he departed, he had scored three-quarters of his side’s runs.
What was most remarkable about it all was how routine it was. Waseem has now hit more T20 international sixes than anyone in history, other than India’s Rohit Sharma.
He is now just 29 sixes behind the Indian great’s haul of 205, despite having played only half the amount of matches.
As ever, though, UAE had minimal support for their captain. Asif came to the wicket, needing to reprise his own startling onslaught against Pakistan from two nights earlier, for UAE to stand a chance.
He was undone, though, by Rashid Khan, having made just a single. Rahul Chopra showed fight, going to a 50 with a six off the last ball of the innings, but it was in vain as the UAE were restricted to 150 for eight.
