Sport
Rashid Khan ‘proud’ to have led Afghanistan to historic win

Afghanistan’s skipper Rashid Khan said on Saturday that he was “feeling super proud to have led my nation to this historic win.”
Taking to twitter after Friday night’s historic win against Pakistan in their first T20I series match in Sharjah, Rashid also said: “Couldn’t have asked for a better performance from our bowlers.”
Man of the match award however went to veteran player Mohammad Nabi who was recalled to the squad last week after stepping down as captain last year.
Speaking after Friday night’s match, Rashid hailed the team’s maiden T20 victory against Pakistan, by 6 wickets, but said their front-line batters need to improve ahead of the 50-overs World Cup in India later this year.
They restricted the young Pakistan side, led by Shadab Khan, to 92-9 and chased down the target with 13 balls to spare with Mohammad Nabi making an unbeaten 38 in the low-scoring contest to go with his two wickets with the ball.
“It’s a pleasure to win as we’ve always lost against them, sometimes with small margins,” Rashid said after the victory.
“Happy for the win, and we hope to continue the momentum.”
It was not an easy chase though as Afghanistan slumped to 27-3 before Nabi rescued them.
Rashid said their top order needed to perform better in the ongoing three-match series and maintain that form heading into the ODI World Cup in October-November.
“We need to improve not just for this series but as we get to the World Cup,” Rashid said.
“From now on, we need to put effort day by day and game by game, so that by the end of the year, when we go for the World Cup, we’ll have a fully prepared squad.”
Afghanistan will again take on Pakistan in the second T20 on Sunday.
Sport
Patel and Mendis help Sunrisers beat Kings in Dhoni’s 400th T20
Fast bowler Harshal Patel grabbed four wickets and Kamindu Mendis showed his allround skill as Sunrisers Hyderabad upstaged Chennai Super Kings by five wickets in Chennai on Friday.

Patel grabbed 4-28 and was ably assisted by skipper Pat Cummins and Jaydev Unadkat — both finishing with identical figures of 2-21 — to dismiss the home team for a below-par 154 in 19.5 overs.
South African youngster Dewald Brevis was the top scorer for the Kings with a blistering 25-ball 42, cracking four sixes and a boundary on his debut for the franchise.
Skipper M.S. Dhoni failed to make his 400th T20 a memorable occasion, managing just six runs and coming out on the losing side.
Sunrisers achieved the target in 18.4 overs for the loss of five wickets with Ishan Kishan leading the way with a solid 34-ball 44 with five boundaries and a six.
Mendis struck an unbeaten 32 off 22 balls, adding 49 in an unbroken sixth wicket stand with Nitish Kumar Reddy who finished with a 13-ball 19 not out.
The victory lifted Sunrisers to eighth on the 10-team table topped by Gujrat Titans with 12 points in eight matches while five-time champions Kings are at the bottom with four points in nine.
Patel, declared man-of-the-match, attributed discipline as the key for his fine bowling.
“I figured out pretty early that hitting it on a good length around the stumps was important because it was hard to hit with the horizontal bat,” said Patel.
Dhoni blamed losing a cluster of wickets for the poor batting show.
“I think we kept losing wickets and another thing is in the first innings the wicket was slightly better,” said Dhoni. “A total of 157 wasn’t a justifiable score.”
Earlier, Chennai Super Kings were rocked by Sunrisers’s pacer Patel who ripped through the middle and lower-order batting.
The home team started on a wrong note when opener Shaik Rasheed was caught in the slip off the very first delivery of the match by fast bowler Mohammad Shami.
Seventee-year-old Ayush Mhatre was impressive in his 19-ball 30, which was studded with six boundaries, while Ravindra Jadeja managed 21 with a six and a boundary.
Jadeja’s dismissal brought Dhoni to the crease as the crowd roared to welcome their hero in his 400th T20 match but Dhoni’s stay lasted for just ten balls.
It was Brevis who assured Kings get past 150 with some lusty hitting.
Deepak Hooda also chipped in with a 21-ball 22 with a six and a boundary.
Sport
Sri Lanka A defeats Afghanistan A by 4 wickets in Abu Dhabi

Afghanistan A was defeated by Sri Lanka A with a margin of four wickets in the ongoing 50-over tri-nation cricket series.
The match was held on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
Afghanistan had previously lost one match against Ireland and another against Sri Lanka in this series.
Batting first, the Afghan team set a target of 229 runs after losing eight wickets.
In response, Sri Lanka A chased down the target, losing six wickets.
Sport
Afghanistan qualify for U19 Cricket World Cup 2026

Afghanistan’s U19 cricket team has officially qualified for the ICC Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup 2026, following the final day washout in the Asia Qualifiers.
After securing three big wins in their first three games, today’s match against Nepal U19s was washed out. Thanks to their superior Net Run Rate, Afghanistan U19s topped the table and book their berth in the ICC Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup 2026, which will take place early next year in Namibia and Zimbabwe.
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