Hosts UAE crashed to a nerve-wracking and heart-breaking 4-run loss to Afghanistan to end their campaign in the Tri-Series winless. It was a case of so near yet so far for the home team as they came ever so close of upsetting the much-fancied side. Afghanistan rested a lot of their key players ahead of the final and got out of jail in the end. Plenty of positives for UAE, but there are areas they fell behind in this contest and we will list three reasons why UAE came second best in this contest.
Inability to close out the game when game was in balance.Â
UAE did a lot of things right and it was a much improved performance from Muhammad Waseem and his men in Sharjah. They lost the toss but kept Afghanistan in check in the powerplay. They were ahead of Afghanistan after the powerplay and although they lost a few wickets at the wrong time, they kept themselves in the game till the end. With 17 needed off 6 balls, Asif Khan smashed a boundary and maximum to bring the equation down to 7 off 4 balls.
With 7 needed off 4 balls, the game was with UAE as the set-batter Asif was on strike. He managed to get a quick brace to bring it down to 5 off 3 balls. But then suddenly, out of nowhere and credit to Malik as well to hold his nerves under pressure, as there were two dot balls that followed. Suddenly, it became 5 off 1 ball and Malik mistimed one to Gurbaz at long-off who took the catch under pressure.
UAE is a learning team and has not been in winning positions before against fancied higher-ranked sides. So, they possibly did not know the art of finishing and crossing the line. Even their skipper mentioned in the presentation, they failed to cross the line. With more game time and confidence, they will know how to play the one percenters right and get over the line. They will take a lot of positives from this game into the Asia Cup 2025 but will rue a missed opportunity in this game for sure. The other games they were soundly beaten, here it was by the barest of margins.
Inability to break the opening stand for 12 overs pegs UAE back
UAE after losing the toss did well to keep Afghanistan under check as far as run rate goes in the powerplay. But what they lacked was taking wickets and they failed to get the breakthrough against the Afghan openers. Not only a wicket did not come in the 6 overs of powerplay, it did not come till 12 overs were completed. This meant Afghanistan despite not getting off the blocks had a solid foundation to take off from.
The duo of Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz started slowly but changed gears as well to put on 98 runs for the opening wicket in 12 overs. It meant Afghanistan had the platform to go big and they did go big with no fear of wickets lost. Both the openers scored 40s with Gurbaz scoring 40, and Ibrahim 48. It meant that despite UAE getting rid of both openers quickly, the platform was laid out and the likes of Karim Janat, Azmatullah Omarzai and Gulbadin Naib pounced on it and took the score to 170 which was a healthy score.
Going forward, UAE needs to be more incisive with the ball in the powerplay and first 10 overs to put pressure on the opposition especially against higher ranked teams. Yes, they kept the total to manageable levels, but could not go over the line in the end. They are a learning team and are in a step in the right direction we feel. It’s once again small areas that proved to be costly and heart-breaking in the end for hosts UAE.
Sloppy fielding & number of wides conceded made a huge difference to the score
UAE were sloppy in the field make no mistake about it. Even Afghanistan were but UAE were more sloppy. The ground fielding was a bit sloppy and they too dropped catches as Gurbaz once was let off early in his innings and Omarzai later on. The catches dropped and missed fielding proved to be costly for them. The other area where the UAE let themselves down was the number of extras they conceded. They conceded 15 extras to Afghanistan’s 10. But UAE conceded 13 wides compared to Afghanistan’s 7.
13 wides means it is bowling two extra overs and more. That means more balls bowled and more opportunity for the opposition to score more runs. In a game where the victory margin was 4 runs these errors made a telling difference to the eventual result of the match. If UAE had cut down on these extras, the story could have been a whole lot different. Afghanistan gave 5 fewer extras and conceded 6 fewer wides and guess what they won by 4 runs in the end.
So, looking ahead, the UAE will want to get their disciplines line and length right as that will go a long way in helping them stay disciplined. Extras, fielding is in your control and UAE must realise that ahead of the big Asia Cup coming their way. There are positives for them, but if they do not work on these one percenters, then more often than not they will face heartbreaks and end on the losing side against the better higher-ranked nations.
What Lies Ahead
UAE’s campaign is over as they head over to Asia Cup 2025 to face India in their opener on September 10th 2025. More on that later. But now, the stage is set for the summit clash of UAE Tri-Series 2025 as Pakistan takes on Afghanistan live from Sharjah at 8:30 PM on 7th September 2025. Both teams won 3 out of 4 games, and beat each other once each. Who will get the bragging rights and the trophy on Sunday night?
Only time will tell as we are all set for a thrilling climax to UAE Tri-Series 2025 as Pakistan and Afghanistan are set to play their best team on the park on that night. Let’s see which team comes on top on Sunday night in the battle of equals.
Also Read: UAE T20I Tri-Series 2025: 3 Reasons For UAE’s Crushing Defeat To Pakistan