A near first-over hattrick from fast-bowler Fazalhaq Farooqi has set the tone for Afghanistan's emphatic 125-run win over Uganda in their T20 World Cup opener in the same pool as New Zealand.
Batting first, the world No.10 Twenty20 side charged to 154, before the fall of their first wicket, but lost the second four balls later in the 16th over. They managed only 27 runs in the final five overs to finish on 183/5, with openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz scoring 76 runs off 45 balls and Ibrahim Zadran 70 off 46.
The African qualifiers were off to the worst possible start, when opener Ronak Patel hit a four off the first ball from Fazalhaq, but was bowled by the second. Roger Mukasa was trapped leg before wicket with the third ball and Riazat Ali Shah was lucky to squeeze the fourth past the leg stump to avoid the hattrick.
The repreive was shortlived, as Fazalhaq caught opener Simon Ssesazi off the bowling of Mujeeb Ur Rahim in the second over and wickets continued to tumble.
Ali Shah and Robinson Obuya put on 28 runs for the sixth wicket, but Ali Shah and Brian Masab fell off consecutive balls to present Fazalhaq with another hattrick chance. Bilal Hassan again deprived him, but four balls later, Obuya edged to wicketkeeper Rahmanullah for Fazalhaq's five-wicket haul.
Uganda were eventually dismissed for 58 in the 16th over, gifting their opponents a dream start to their World Cup campaign.
New Zealand will face Afghanistan in their tournament opener on Saturday.
Afghanistan 183/5 (Rahmanullah 76, Ibrahim 70; Masaba 2/21, Kyewuta 2/25) Uganda 58 (Obuya 14; Fazalhaq 5/9)
Afghanistan win by 125 runs
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