Chittagong Vikings vs Khulna Royal Bengals - Commentary

Right then, that is it from this one-sided game where Afghanistan takes an early lead in the series and UAE will need to go back to the drawing board and come back stronger in the next one to level things up. The 2nd T20I will be played on 31st December, Sunday at 7.30 pm IST (2 pm GMT), but as you know, you can always join us early for all the build-up to the match. Until then, cheers and goodbye!

Afghanistan's captain, Ibrahim Zadran says that it is his first time captaining the country and it is a surreal experience. Adds that they have a pretty decent T20I side and in the absence of Rashid Khan, Qais Ahmad bowled brilliantly. Tells that they try to play positive cricket and will continue to do so. Praises Rahmanullah Gurbaz for his century and says his role in the team is to anchor but he got out unfortunately.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz is the Player of the Match for his stellar ton. He starts by thanking the Almighty. Adds that he enjoyed batting today and it was really exciting to play the innings. States that his plan was to give the strike to Hazratullah Zazai as he was doing well. Mentions that it was not pre-planned to hit this big but everything went in the right direction. He also thanks the crowd as the support in UAE is always massive for Afghanistan.

Muhammad Waseem, the skipper of UAE says that he would like to congratulate Rahmanullah Gurbaz for such a special innings and he says that it was a good wicket but the runs were a little too much for us to achieve. He added that the guys are young and still fresh to this stage but they are all very talented and will definitely look to bounce back in the future games. He ends by saying that they were not able to execute their plans as they would have liked and Afghanistan played really well bringing in the experience that they carry but UAE will bounce back in the upcoming games.

Time for the presentation ceremony....

Earlier in the game, Afghanistan posted a huge total on the board courtesy of a stunning hundred from Rahmanullah Gurbaz and a brilliant fifty from the skipper Ibrahim Zadran. For UAE, Aayan Khan stood out with one wicket and was economical as well while the others were taken to the cleaners. Only if their catching was up to point, things could have been different. Muhammad Jawadullah and Junaid Siddique got the other two wickets. While chasing, their batters failed to get going except for Vriitya Aravind who did put up a good fight but that was never going to be enough for the UAE.

Afghanistan, on the other hand, were excellent with the ball. Both Naveen-ul-Haq and Fazalhaq Farooqi used the conditions well and moved the ball viciously which also helped them to strike three early blows. The spinners were  brilliant as well in the middle overs to keep the batters quiet and put even more pressure on the hosts. Qais Ahmad ended up with a wicket as well but it really an overall effort which helped them defend this total with ease.

UAE did not get the start they wanted as both their openers went back to the hut quite early with the big one being their captain Muhammad Waseem who could have been the key in this chase. The debutant, Samal Udawaththa also couldn't do much. Vriitya Aravind and Basil Hameed struggled initially but slowly steadied things for them. However, as the asking rate was always going up, Basil lost his wicket trying to change gears. Vritya was the line warrior for them with a fighting half-century while the other debutant, Tanish Suri looked unfazed by the situation and will be on to watch out for in the future. In the end, it proved to be too much for them as they fell short by 72 runs.

AFGHANISTAN GO 1-0 UP! A dominant victory for them as all the departments clicked for them and contributed equally. However, the highlight will obviously be that exceptional century from Rahmanullah Gurbaz that set up this game and their bowlers made sure to give absolutely nothing away. The Afghans will take a lot of confidence in the next game and try to wrap up the series with another win.

Who will bowl the last over? It will be Naveen-ul-Haq.