UAE suffered a crushing 38-run loss against Afghanistan to be winless after two games in the UAE Tri-Series. While UAE the host nation had their moments of brilliance, they were not consistent enough to carry through with it and lost the game tamely in the end. While Afghanistan got on the board and had a lot more positives coming out of this game, the same cannot be said of UAE as they made some glaring mistakes. We will try to figure out three reasons for their defeat against Afghanistan.
Inability to stop Ibrahim Zadran and Sediqullah Atal partnership hurts UAE.Â
UAE won the toss and surprisingly opted to bowl first despite the trend in the first two games showing teams batting first had won the games. Since, they opted to bowl it was important that UAE gets early wickets to put pressure on Afghanistan. While they did manage to get Rahmanullah Gurbaz out cheaply for 7 and controlled the scoring in the powerplay. They failed to break the next stand for the second wicket.
Ibrahim Zadran playing at Number 3 joined Sediqullah Atal in the middle and the duo played the UAE bowling without breaking a sweat. Some freebies were dished out as well, but the duo were in control of the proceedings and put on 84 runs off 55 balls for the second wicket to lay the platform for a big score. Both scored half-centuries with Atal scoring 54 and Ibrahim scoring 63 runs. They laid the platform for Afghanistan to finish strong and they did finish strong through Omarzai and Karim Janat to go beyond 180.
The bowlers were expensive and failed to take regular wickets as Afghanistan had it their way. Going forward in this series and to Asia Cup 2025, Afghanistan needs to be more incisive in their bowling and take wickets at regular intervals and not let the game drift. If they do that, then they will compete better against the higher-ranked nations. Afghanistan just showed their class in this particular game.
No support for Muhammad Waseem and Rahul Chopra hurts UAE.Â
In the chase of 189, UAE had gotten off to a great start in the powerplay. Despite losing Zuhaib Khan early, Muhammad Waseem was a man on a mission as he was single-handedly driving the chase. He had Ethan Carl D’Souza for company for a while but he was a mere spectator. Then Rahul Chopra came in after powerplay and played well as well. After powerplay, UAE were 66/1 and flying high.
Waseem and Rahul were going well, but the dismissal of Waseem at the halfway stage of the innings was the turning point in the game as he fell for 67 off 37 balls. Rahul Chopra was there at one end and there was someone who had to step up for the side and give Chopra support. But that was not to be as the middle order and lower middle order wilted under pressure as no one got to even double digits apart from Waseem, Chopra and Ethan. It was a collapse for the reasons.
UAE went from 66/1 in powerplay to 91/3 in 10 overs and they further slumped to 111/6 in 15 overs and the game was over by then as they lost 3/20 in Overs 11-15. In order to complete a successful chase, one needs to have an all-round team effort with the bat and also nail all the vital phases of the game. Unfortunately, UAE lacked in this phase and paid the price by losing the plot. They need to look at these areas and not repeat the same mistakes again and again.
Losing 7 wickets in 10 overs to spin pegs UAE back.Â
UAE started well with the bat and dominated the pacers totally. But spin came in and changed the game. The pitch was slow and on the drier side and Afghanistan made the most of it as they had a formidable score on the board. UAE were found wanting playing spin as the Afghans played the extra spinner and got their reward. While Mujeeb had a rare off day, the others stepped up to the plate.
Captain Rashid Khan led from the front with his 3/21 in 4 overs while Sharafuddin Ashraf playing this game came back after an expensive first over and finished with 3/24 in 4 overs. Even the veteran Mohammad Nabi got a wicket in his 1/9 in 2 overs. The UAE batters looked clueless playing spin and had no idea how to counter-attack it. They had no idea whatsoever. It was sad to see this happening. They were playing at home and had no idea how to combat the Afghanistan spinners.
Going forward, UAE needs to look at better ways on how to play spin and come back with a better plan. The stage was set and they had a platform to really challenge Afghanistan. But that was not to be as they collapsed like a pack of cards in the middle and death phase. More players need to step up as it cannot be up to one or two players to do the scoring. This was the problem in the first game and again now in this game as well.
What Lies Ahead.Â
UAE has a day-off tonight, but there is no rest for Afghanistan as they are back in action later tonight against Pakistan in the 4th match at Sharjah from 8:30 PM IST on 2nd September 2025. It is the start of the second round of fixtures between the teams now. Can Afghanistan exact revenge of opening night defeat? A win for Pakistan definitely takes them into the finals.
We shall see how things pan out later tonight as battle between these two teams have been epic. So, far teams batting first have won at Sharjah. Will the trend change later tonight? Only time will tell as Pakistan and Afghanistan won’t give an inch for sure.
Also Read: UAE T20I Tri-Series 2025: 3 Reasons For UAE’s Loss Against Pakistan.