Afghanistan T20I captain Rashid Khan scripted history at Sharjah Cricket Stadium as he became the leading wicket-taker in the T20I format, surpassing former New Zealand pacer Tim Southee. Rashid claimed three wickets for just 21 runs in Afghanistan's 38-run win in their second match of the tri-series against UAE on September 1 to achieve the historic feat.
Afghanistan post fighting total despite rocky start
Among current cricketers, New Zealand leg-spinner Ish Sodhi comes close to Rashid's tally. Sodhi has 150 wickets from 126 games. Another contender is Bangladesh's Mustafizur Rahman with 142 wickets from 113 Tests. However, Rashid is likely to stay in the lead for a long time as he has taken 165 wickets from 98 T20Is already.
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In the third match of the tri-series, UAE captain Muhammad Waseem won the toss and opted to bowl first. After the early wicket of Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sediquellah Atal and Ibrahim Zadran shared an 84-run partnership. Young batter Atal scored 54 runs from 40 balls whereas Zadran scored 63 runs from 40 balls. Towards the end, Afghanistan accelerated. Azmatullah Omarzai (12-ball 20) and Karim Janat's (10-ball 23) unbeaten cameos took Afghanistan to 188/4.
Waseem goes berserk
In the run chase, UAE lost Muhammad Zohaib early but skipper Waseem kept the scoring rate up. He made the most of the dropped catch in the third over. He reached his half-century from just 25 deliveries. Rashid broke the partnership with Ethan DSouza's wicket for an 11-ball 12 in the ninth over. Inj the end over, Sharafuddin Ashraf got the wicket of Waseem who scored 67 runs from 37 balls, including four fours and six sixes.
Rashid, Ashraf floor UAE
In his third over, Rashid knocked over Asif Khan for a single-digit score. Then, Mohammad Nabi got into the act and dismissed Harshit Kaushi who managed to score just four runs from 11 deliveries. Rashid finished his spell with the wicket of Dhruv Parashar and get past Southee. Ashraf continued to strike and dismissed Saghir Khan for a two-ball duck. Ashraf's last wicket of the evening was Haider Ali. Rahul Chopra contributed with a 35-ball 52 but it wasn't enough as UAE managed to post 150/8 and lost by 38 runs.
Waseem breaks Rohit’s T20I sixes record as captain
Despite the defeat, Waseem became the second-highest six-hitter in T20Is, surpassing former New Zealand opener Martin Guptill. He also broke former India captain Rohit Sharma’s record for most T20I sixes as skipper.