The AfghanAbdalyan (Afghanistan A) Cricket Team put on a remarkable all-round performance to beat Sri Lanka A by 7 wickets in the Grand Finale and win the title of the ACC Men’s T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2024, for the first time in their history.
After being sent into field first, AfghanAbdalyan did very well with the ball and reduced Sri Lanka A to 133/7 runs in the first inning and set themselves a target of 134 runs. AM Ghazanfar (2/14) and Bilal Sami (3/22) ripped through the Sri Lanka A top-order with some high-quality bowling to set the tone for Afghanistan in the ultimate showdown.
In reply, AfghanAbdalyan lost Zubaid Akbari off the very first delivery, but Sediqullah Atal (55*) and the skipper Darwish Rasooli (24) led Afghanistan’s fightback with a much-needed 43-run stand. Karim Janat (33) joined Atal in the middle and played a crucial knock to get Afghanistan closer.
The match could go either way but Karim Janat’s two successive sixes of Dushan Hemantha totally shifted the momentum of the game towards Afghanistan and from there, there was no stopping, as Sediqullah, riding on his 5th consecutive half-century, got Afghanistan to the ultimate glory by 7 wickets with 11 balls to spare.
AMG was awarded the Player of the Match for his extraordinary bowling display and terrific figures of 2/14 off his consecutive four overs with the new ball.
The Player of the Tournament award went to no other than Sediqullah Atal, the man who put on an unmatched consistency in the entire competition and scored 368 runs at an outstanding average of 122.66 runs and an impressive strike rate of 147.79 in five innings, with 5 half-centuries to his name.
The tournament began on October 18, where AfghanAbdalyan secured victories over Sri Lanka A and Bangladesh A, then defeated India A in the Semi-Final to advance to their first-ever Final.
They capped it off tonight with a historic title win to mark their first title win in the event’s history.