SHARJAH: Nazibullah Zadran struck a blistering half-century in a dominating batting display of power-hitting as Afghanistan posted a commanding 190 for four against Scotland in a Super 12 match of the ICC T20 World Cup here on Monday.
Zadran scored 59 off 34 balls, hitting five fours and three sixes, while Hazratullah Zazai (44) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (46) also produced solid knocks to take Afghanistan close to their best-ever total in T20 World Cup.
Opting to bat, Zazai and Mohammad Shahzad (22) got Afghanistan off to a flier, stitching 54 runs off just 35 balls before the latter holed out at deep midwicket boundary.
Zazai played aggressively from the onset, hitting the bad balls to the fence and over it with consummate ease but his 30-ball knock was cut short by Mark Watt as he inside edged a delivery on to his stumps in the 10th over with Afghanistan reaching 82 for two.
Thereafter, Gurbaz and Zadran maintained the scoring rate as Afghanistan kept up the pressure on Scotland bowlers. While Gurbaz played steadily from one end, Zadran was attacking from the onset as Afghanistan reached 127 for two after 15 overs.
In between, Gurbaz also showed his attacking prowess as he clobbered Josh Davey over the midwicket boundary with a helicopeter shot to hit a maximum. Gurbaz, from there on, took his game to the next level and clobbered Brad Wheal for two sixes over long on to accumulate 16 runs from the 17th over.
Zadran was not to be left behind as he hit Watt straight down the ground for a boundary and then followed it up with a six over long-off in the next over. But Gurbaz fell four runs short of his fifty when he handed an easy catch to Kyle Coetzer off Davey.
With wickets in hand, Afghanistan gathered 63 runs in the last five overs.
Brief Scores: Afghanistan: 190 for 4 in 20 overs (N Zadran 59, R Gurbaz 46, H Zazai 44; S Sharif 2/33, M Watt 1/23) vs Scotland