Chennai, February 19 In a match between two teams that had already been eliminated, Afghanistan relied on an unbeaten 95 from Ibrahim Zadran to post a formidable 200 for four against Canada in their final T20 World Cup match here on Thursday.
With both teams aiming to return home on a high, Afghanistan produced a dominant batting performance after being put in to bat.
Zadran capitalized on a dropped catch to punish the Canadian bowlers with seven fours and five sixes, leading Afghanistan to a large total.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz started cautiously but survived an early scare when he was dropped by wicketkeeper Shreyas Movva off pacer Dilon Heyliger in the second over.
It took Gurbaz (30 off 20) a few deliveries to assess the conditions before he hit a series of crisp boundaries. However, just when he looked in good form, Jaskaran Singh dismissed him with a catch at deep point in the sixth over.
Jaskaran struck again three balls later, trapping the dangerous Gulbadin Naib lbw for one, briefly putting Afghanistan back at 49 for two.
Thereafter, Zadran took control.
The right-hander ensured that the scoring rate never dipped, striking freely against both pace and spin. Alongside Sediqullah Atal (44 off 32), he put on a fluent 95-run partnership for the third wicket, with the duo particularly targeting the spinners.
Zadran was fortunate on 54 when Kaleem Sana dropped a catch off left-arm spinner Ansh Patel. Canada's fielding errors proved costly, and Afghanistan capitalized with sharp running between the wickets.
Jaskaran eventually broke the stand by inducing Atal to hole out in the deep, but Zadran continued without any trouble. He hit seven fours and five sixes in his 56-ball innings, narrowly missing out on a deserved hundred.
Late cameos from Azmatullah Omarzai (13 off 7) and Darwish Rasooli (4 not out) helped Afghanistan finish strongly at exactly 10 runs per over.
For Canada, Jaskaran (3/52) was the only bright spot with the ball, but their poor fielding and inability to contain Zadran meant that they faced a challenging chase in a match that offered little beyond pride but plenty of competitive spirit.
