Afghanistan 203 for 3 (Kurbaz 100, Ibrahim 59, Ayan 1-26) lost United Arab Emirates 131 for 4 (Arvind 70*, Farooqui 2-19, Naveen-ul-Haq 1-25) by 72 runs
Rahmanullah Gurbaz hit his first T20I century to help Afghanistan to 203, eventually winning by 72 runs in the first T20I against UAE in Sharjah. The hosts never chased after being reduced to 56 for 4 in the first ten overs.
Gurbaz scored 100 off 52 balls with 7 fours and a six. He dominated for the second wicket with a 77-ball 137 with Ibrahim Sadran, who was appointed as the stand-in captain for the series.
The boundaries continued to flow from Gurbaz's bat as he reached his fifty off 24 balls with a six off Ali Naseer in the ninth over. He went 4, 6, 4 against Basil Hameed in the 16th over before reaching his century with a 50-ball six in the next over. Afghanistan scored 62 off the last five overs, with Azmatullah Omarzai's unbeaten 19 off 8 balls.
Chasing a challenging score, UAE lost Khalid Shah in the first over. After being cleared by the ACB earlier this week for opting out of the Central Contract List for 2024, Afghanistan's side along with Naveen-ul-Haq again included Fazalhaq Farooqui, Khalid and Samal Udawatta in the fifth over.
In between, Naveen removed Muhammad Wasim and UAE needed 148 more in the last ten overs before Qais Ahmed claimed the fourth wicket. Vridhya Aravind struggled with an unbeaten 70, but his efforts helped reduce the home side's margin of defeat.
The big win gave Afghanistan a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, the second of which was played in Sharjah on Sunday.
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