Afghanistan registered a composed five-wicket win over United Arab Emirates in Match 28 of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, chasing 161 with four balls to spare. In their innings, United Arab Emirates scored 160 runs for the loss of 9 wickets after choosing to bat first. They got off to a quick start in the powerplay with 55 runs, before slowly losing momentum as Afghanistan took wickets regularly. This prevented any acceleration during the death overs, and ultimately kept the total within reach. Despite a good start, the UAE couldn’t keep partnerships going, resulting in a sufficient score but eventually could not be enough.

During the innings Sohaib Khan was the anchor scoring an impressive 68 runs off of 48 balls with six fours and four sixes. Alishan Sharafu was the next highest scorer with 40 runs and Syed Haider had a contribution of 13 runs. However, UAE lost wickets in quick succession towards the end of their innings and stunted the progress that they had made in their innings with the potential for a larger score. Afghanistan’s attack was anchored by Azmatullah Omarzai who had a fantastic bowling performance with 4 wickets for 15 runs taking the game away from UAE, while also ensuring the other bowlers kept a tight grip on run scoring causing UAE to have a steady decline in run rate for the second half of their innings.

Afghanistan’s chase began shakily with an early wicket, but Ibrahim Zadran steadied proceedings with a calm 53 off 41 deliveries. Contributions from the middle order, including aggressive cameos, kept the required rate under control. Omarzai then capped a superb all-round display by smashing an unbeaten 40 to guide his side home alongside Mohammad Nabi. Afghanistan finished on 162/5 in 19.2 overs, sealing a confident victory that highlighted their composure under pressure and strengthened their position in the tournament standings.

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T20 World Cup 2026: Updated Points Table after AFG vs UAE Match 28

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

T20 World Cup 2026: Top Performances

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