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Abu Dhabi: A four-wicket haul from Dawlat Zadran and breezy cameos from Samiullah Shenwari and Karim Janat helped Afghanistan beat UAE by five wickets in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
After being asked to bat, UAE's openers Mohammad Shahzad (13 in five) and Rohan Mustafa (29 in 19) started strongly, picking up 17 runs in the first over bowled by Dawlat, before the former was dismissed lbw by Fareed Ahmad.
Flying on the momentum, Mustafa continued to pile up boundaries and added 41 runs in 26 deliveries for the second wicket with Shaiman Anwar, who was more sedate in his approach.
Before falling to Dawlat, Mustafa smashed four boundaries and a six to set a platform for the remaining batsmen.
After leaking 91 runs in the first ten overs, Afghanistan managed to apply the brakes by picking up wickets. Dawlat returned to grab three wickets in his last two overs to end with 4 for 44.
Meanwhile, Anwar kept the scoreboard ticking over with a run-a-ball 52 before perishing in the last over, and UAE was restricted to 146 for 7.
Afghanistan's chase started poorly as it lost Mohammad Shahzad and Najeeb Tarakai, the openers, to Ahmed Raza (2-18) and Amjad Javed (1-10) respectively inside 15 deliveries.
But Asghar Stanikzai (30 in 24) and Samiullah Shenwari (42 in 44) mixed aggression with caution to put on 52 runs for the third wicket to bring Afghanistan back on track.
With the asking rate inching towards the ten-per-over mark, Shenwari upped the ante by striking two sixes to keep his side in contention before being caught behind off Mohammad Shahzad.
That, however, didn't affect Janat (22 in 18) and Najibullah Zadran (11 in five) as they struck 20 runs off Shahzad's 19th over to seal the match for Afghanistan with seven balls remaining to make it two in two for the team.
Brief scores:
UAE - 146 for 7 (Shaiman Anwar 52, Dawlat 4-44, Rashid 2-12)
Afghanistan - 147 for 5 (Shenwari 42, Stanikzai 30, Ahmed Raza 2-18)
Result - Afghanistan won by five wickets.
