Fixtures, Schedule Afghanistan Cricket

In the final match, Afghanistan beat the tournament’s hot favourite, the West Indies, comprehensively by 7 wickets and 56 balls to spare. Indeed, it was not less than a miracle for Afghanistan winning the title of the ICC Cricket แข่งขันบอลโลก Qualifier 2018, after three early defeats in the tournament. Afghanistan team proved that at the end of the day commitment, dedication and self-belief pay off and make the difference. We hope that Afghanistan has learned a lot of lessons from this tournament and will perform better in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 in England. Senior Afghanistan players have accepted the leadership change ahead of the World Cup as they target a semi-final spot in the 50-over showpiece event, chief selector Dawlat Khan Ahmadzai said Tuesday.

Only top 12 teams would qualify for the eventual qualifying round for the FIFA World Cup 2022 as well as the Asian Championship 2023. Afsar Zazai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Rahmat Shah and Gulbadin Naib are the four players, who are part of the team as reserves. Spanning three seasons, our sponsorship will see our Fly Better promise on shirts of the men’s, women’s, veterans and youth squads. Our sponsorship offers us great visibility at the Cape Town Stadium, with our branding at the venue and on tickets, as well as hospitality rights during the three-day event. Both teams had already qualified for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, which was the main objective, but there were still bragging rights and silverware on offer.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman first led the way with 4/43 to the bowl out Windies for 204 in 46.5 overs. Mohammad Shahzad, in his usual flamboyant style, then cracked a 93-ball 84 as Afghanistan reached 206/3 in just 40.4 overs, Mohammad Nabi finishing the job with three sixes in a row off Chris Gayle. That completes a comeback for a team which had started the competition with three successive losses before running up a sequence of five wins to take home the trophy.

Afghanistan had a greater challenge of demonstrating its full potential and be luckier in the super-six stage to play in the final of the tournament. Since Afghanistan has not carried any points from first round to the second round, it looked unlikely for the Blue Tigers to become one of the finalists. Afghanistan not only had to win all its remaining matches but the result of some other encounters had to go in favour of Afghanistan too. The team did its part with defeating West Indies by 3 wickets, and UAE and Ireland by 5 wickets each.

However, it was UAE who made the second upset of the tournament by beating Zimbabwe and allowed Afghanistan the opportunity to qualify for the world cup. We have been the official airline of UAERF since 2011, and also sponsor the Men’s, Women’s and Under 20’2 National 7’s and 15’s teams. In the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens’ 50-year history, we have been the event’s Official Sponsor since 1988.