Ibrahim Zadran stood up and be counted when it mattered. Ibrahim Zadran was a man possessed out there in the middle and his knock stood out for the Afghanistan team. Put into bat first, Afghanistan rode on a magnificent unbeaten 95 from Ibrahim Zadran who carried his bat through and help from the other players like Atal and others around him to post a mammoth 200/4 in 20 overs.
In reply, Mohammad Nabi stood up and be noticed as the veteran picked up 4/7 in just 4 overs while captain Rashid Khan finished with 2/19 in 4 overs. Mujeeb Ur Rahman finished with 1/23 in 4 overs. Abdullah Ahmadzai finished with figures of 0/22 in 3 overs. It was a comprehensive win for Afghanistan in the end as they exited the tournament on a high.
Ibrahim Zadran’s masterclass powers Afghanistan to 200/4.Â
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. The opening duo took their time initially and then launched later on. It was a steady start for the Afghanistan team as the duo put on 47 for the first wicket before Gurbaz’s luck ran out as he fell for 30 off 20 balls with 5 fours to his name to Jaskaran Singh Butter. Gulbadin Naib came out to bat next but he did not last long as for the addition of two runs Naib fell for 1 off 2 balls to Jaskaran. Afghanistan were 49/2 in 6 overs.
Sediqullah Atal came out to bat next post the powerplay. Ibrahim Zadran then took charge of the innings. Atal also grew into his own innings and complimented Ibrahim really well. The duo aced the middle phase of the game gradually accelerating and setting things up for the final phase of the innings. Canada were sloppy in the field and gave away extra runs to the batting side for fun. The duo of Ibrahim and Atal put on 95 match winning runs for the third wicket before Atal himself fell for 44 off 32 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes to his name to Jaskaran yet again.
Azmatullah Omarzai came out to bat next. Ibrahim was in another level as this did not stop his run scoring in the match. Omarzai too joined in and played a big shot for the maximum. The duo of Ibrahim and Omarzai put on 31 runs for the 4th wicket before Omarzai fell for 13 off 7 balls with one six to his name. Darwish Rasooli came out to bat next with 11 balls to go in the innings.
Ibrahim was well set and scored bulk of the runs as he converted his fifty into a big ninety plus score. The duo added 25 runs off 11 balls unbroken for the 5th wicket with Ibrahim scoring the majority of the runs. Ibrahim hit two boundaries in two balls to end the over as Afghanistan just got to 200 runs on the board. Ibrahim carried his bat with his unbeaten 95 off 56 balls with 7 fours and 5 sixes to his name while Rasooli remained unbeaten on 4 off 4 balls as Afghanistan ended with 200/4 in 20 overs with 13 extras given by the fielding side.
Canada’s bowling was a mixed bag to say the least. Jaskaran Singh Buttar finished with 3/52 in 4 overs. Dilon Heyliger finished with 1/41 in 4 overs. Kaleem Sana finished with 0/23 in 3 overs. Dilpreet Bajwa finished with 0/18 in 3 overs. Saad Bin Zafar finished with 0/35 in 3 overs while Ansh Patel finished with 0/24 in 3 overs. This meant that Canada needed a mammoth 201 runs to win off 20 overs.
Mohammad Nabi’s inspirational spell helped Afghanistan get a commanding win by 82 runs.Â
Chasing 201 runs for the win, Yuvraj Samra and captain Dilpreet Bajwa came out to open the batting for Canada while Mujeeb Ur Rahman came out to bowl for Afghanistan. Canada were off to a brisk start as they dominated the initial overs as they put on 25 for the first wicket before Bajwa fell for 13 off 7 balls with 2 sixes to his name to Mujeeb. Navneet Dhaliwal came out to bat next. Dhaliwal did not last long as only 5 runs were added to the tally before Dhaliwal fell for a duck. Harsh Thaker came out to bat next.
Yuvraj also fell soon after as only 3 runs were added to the score before Samra fell for 17 off 14 balls with 3 fours to his name to Mohammad Nabi. Nicholas Kirton came out to bat next to join Dhaliwal in the middle. Canada were in trouble at 34/3 in 6 overs of powerplay. The duo added 10 more runs to the tally before Kirton fell for 10 off 12 balls with 2 fours to his name. Shreyas Movva came out to bat next. Just 5 runs were added to the score before Movva fell for 2 off 6 balls to Rashid Khan. Saad Bin Zafar came out to bat next to join Thaker in the middle as the score was 48/5 in 9 overs
The duo of Saad and Harsh tried to forge a partnership as the score was below 50 and they did so but the game was as good as over at this stage of the game. The duo added a valuable 53 run stand for the 6th wicket to give some respectability to the score. Harsh finally fell for 30 off 24 balls with 3 fours and one six to his name to Mohammad Nabi. Dilon Heyliger came out to bat next.
Just 4 runs were added to the tally before Saad Bin Zafar fell for 28 off 26 balls with 3 fours and one six to his name to Rashid Khan as the batter was cleaned up by the bowler. Jaskaran Singh Buttar came out to bat next. Heyliger soon fell for 3 off 8 balls as Nabi picked up another wicket. Ansh Patel came out to bat with the score at 105/8 in 17.1 overs. The duo of Jaskaran and Ansh added 13 runs unbroken for the 9th wicket stand as Canada finished with 118/8 in 20 overs.
Jaskaran finished with an unbeaten 7 off 13 balls with a maximum to his name while Ansh Patel finished with an unbeaten 2 off 5 balls. 6 extras given by the fielding side as the Canada team ended with 118/8 in 20 overs. 6 extras given by the fielding side.
Mohammad Nabi was the pick of the bowlers for Afghanistan with figures of 4/7 in 4 overs. Rashid Khan chipped in with 2/19 in 4 overs. Mujeeb Ur Rahman finished with 1/23 in 4 overs. Azmatullah Omarzai finished with 1/18 in 2 overs. Abdullah Ahmadzai finished with 0/22 in 3 overs. Ziaur Rahman Sharifi finished with 0/24 in 3 overs. So, Afghanistan thrashed Canada by 82 runs to finish their campaign with the win. Ibrahim Zadran was awarded the Player of the Match award.
What Lies Ahead.Â
So, Afghanistan end their campaign with a thumping 82-run win and 3rd in points table while Canada finishes winless in 5 games. Both teams bow out of the tournament. So, we have got just one more game to come our way in league stage to wrap things up as Australia takes on Oman in a Group B clash in Pallekele. Both teams have been eliminated from the tournament but will look to end on a high.
We have to wait and see how this dead rubber pans out in Pallekele before the Super 8s kick in over the weekend.
Also Read:Â ICC T20 WC 2026: Afghanistan Rattle Canada During Run-Chase