Ibrahim Zadran was in the zone and showed his class and prowess tonight in Chennai. Ibrahim Zadran carried his bat and scored a masterful unbeaten 95 off 56 balls while the others like Gurbaz, Sediqullah Atal and Azmatullah Omarzai chipped in as Afghanistan scored 69 runs in last 5 overs to post a huge total of 200 runs on the board batting first.
Canada strikes twice in powerplay to peg Afghanistan back
Put into bat first, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran came out to open the batting for Afghanistan while Kaleem Sana had ball in hand for Canada. Sana bowled a decent first over. Dilon Heyliger had ball in hand from the other end. Gurbaz threw his hands at it and flayed it to deep backward point for a boundary. Gurbaz was given a lifeline as he was dropped by keeper Movva off Heyliger. Sana continued as Gurbaz stayed back and slapped it past diving deep backward point for a boundary.
Ibrahim took the attack to Heyliger by hitting consecutive boundaries first through third man and backward point and then through extra cover as well. Gurbaz joined in the fun as he crunched it past covers for a boundary. Dilpreet Bajwa came into the attack next and bowled a tight over. Jaskaran Singh came to the attack next as he was welcomed with a boundary from Gurbaz through the edge past the keeper.
Gurbaz then charged down the track and hammered it through extra cover for a boundary. Jaskaran struck as he removed Gurbaz for 30 off 20 balls with 5 fours to his name as he was caught in the deep. Gulbadin Naib walked out to bat after drinks and got off the mark. He fell though to Jaskaran LBW for 1 off 2 balls thanks to great usage of DRS by the fielding team. Sediqullah Atal came out to bat next as Afghanistan reached 49/2 in 6 overs with Atal unbeaten on 0 off 0 balls and Ibrahim on 14* off 14 balls.
Ibrahim Zadran leads Afghanistan’s fightback as Canada goes wicketless in the middle phase of the game
Dilpreet Bajwa continued after the powerplay as the 50 came up in 6.1 overs. Saad Bin Zafar came into the attack next and was welcomed by Zadran for the maximum down the ground over long-off. Bajwa continued as Atal got an outside edge past short third man for a boundary. Ibrahim got down on one knee and nailed it hard past short fine leg for a boundary.
Zafar continued as Ibrahim launched it with a slog sweep to clear midwicket for the maximum. Canada then wasted a review against Ibrahim as they lost the review for LBW as the ball hit his gloves. Afghanistan reached 86/2 in 10 overs at the halfway stage of the contest. Ansh Patel came into the attack next as Atal survived a close stumping appeal by a whisker as he got his foot down in time. Ibrahim then guided the ball past third man for a boundary.
Zafar continued as Atal joined the party as he smashed the ball down the ground and cleared long-on for the maximum. The 50-run stand came up between the two players. The 100 came up for Afghanistan in 11.4 overs. Atal swivelled across the line and wristed it away to backward square leg for a boundary. Ansh continued as Ibrahim punished the low full toss by thumping it between deep midwicket and long-on for a boundary.
Ibrahim reached his fifty in 33 balls. Dilon Heyliger came back into the attack and bowled a decent over. Afghanistan reached 121/2 in 14 overs when we paused for the second Drinks Break of the innings. Ansh Patel continued after the break and Ibrahim got a lifeline as he launched the ball at midwicket region as the fielder ran in the deep to take the catch but put it down. Ibrahim added salt to the wounds as he went inside out over wide long-off for the maximum.
Afghanistan reached 131/2 in 15 overs with Ibrahim unbeaten on 63 off 41 balls and Atal unbeaten on 33 off 27 balls as Afghanistan looking good to reach well in excess of 180+ from here.
Ibrahim Zadran’s masterful unbeaten 95 powers Afghanistan to 200/4Â
Jaskaran Singh Buttar came to bowl the 16th over as the bowler overstepped. Atal took advantage of the free hit by smashing the ball over deep midwicket for the maximum. He came back a few balls later and got rid of Atal for 44 off 32 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes to his name as he was caught in the deep by the long-on fielder. Azmatullah Omarzai came out to bat next and got off the mark with a brace.
Sana returned as Ibrahim launched Sana over deep backward square leg for the maximum as the 150 came up for Afghanistan in 16.1 overs. Buttar continued as Omarzai took him on as he cleared his front leg and launched the ball down the ground for the maximum. Heyliger struck for Canada as he removed Omarzai for 13 off 7 balls with one six to his name as Harsh Thaker took the catch at long-on. Darwish Rasooli came out to bat next and got off the mark.
Ibrahim launched the ball and went inside out over deep covers for the maximum. Jaskaran came to bowl the final over of the innings and the fielding team gifted 3 byes to the batting side via overthrows. Ibrahim swung hard and got the outside edge past third man for a boundary. Ibrahim went again as he cleared his front leg and threw his hands at it to go over extra covers for a boundary. The 200 came up for Afghanistan.
Afghanistan finished with exactly 200 on the board for the loss of 4 wickets. Ibrahim carried his bat as he remained unbeaten on 95 off 56 balls with 7 fours and 5 sixes to his name while Darwish Rasooli remained unbeaten on 4 off 4 balls. 13 extras given by Canada bowlers and fielders.
Canada bowlers had a tough time out there with Jaskaran Singh Buttar finishing with 3/52Â in 4 overs. Dilon Heyliger finished with 1/41 in 4 overs. Kaleem Sana went for 23 in 3 overs. Dilpreet Bajwa finished with 0/18 in 3 overs. Saad Bin Zafar finished with 0/35 in 3 overs. Ansh Patel finished with 0/24 in 3 overs. The target for Canada to win the game is 201 runs off 20 overs.
Who’s Winning, Afghanistan or Canada?Â
Afghanistan have posted a big score with 200 runs on the board and Ibrahim Zadran was the star for the Afghanistan team. Canada has a mountain to climb and all eyes on Yuvraj Samra to give Canada a great start. Afghanistan are definite favourites and should win this game. Let’s see how the chase unfolds from here.
Also Read:Â ICC T20 WC 2026: Shai Hope & Bowlers Dupe Italy