Rashid Khan claimed his 700th T20 wicket in unusual circumstances as Afghanistan kept their faint World Cup hopes alive with a five-wicket victory over United Arab Emirates.
The leg-spinner achieved the milestone with a mode of dismissal which has not featured in any of his 699 previous victims – hit wicket.
UAE batter Muhammad Arfan attempted to reverse sweep a delivery from the Afghanistan captain in the 15th over but ended up clipping the stumps with his bat.
The wicket was Rashid’s 191st in T20 internationals and combined with his List A domestic T20 tally of 509 victims helped him become the first player to achieve the feat.
It is the only time in 11,794 balls bowled in T20 cricket that the 27-year-old has claimed a wicket in this manner.
Rashid finished with 1-24 from his four overs while Azmatullah Omarzai was the pick of the Afghanistan bowlers with 4-15 as UAE were restricted to 160-9 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
Sohaib Khan struck six fours and four sixes as he top-scored for UAE with a 48-ball 68 while Alishan Sharafu chipped in with 40 off 31 balls.
Afghanistan lost Rahmanullah Gurbaz for a duck but fellow opener Ibrahim Zadran’s composed 53 off 21 balls made inroads into the target.
Muhammad Arfan took 2-30 for UAE to slow Afghanistan’s response but Omarzai was the key man for Afghanistan in the remainder of the chase.
The all-rounder followed up his impressive display with the ball as he whacked an unbeaten 40 off 21 balls with the bat as Afghanistan got over the line with four balls to spare.
Afghanistan’s victory got their first points on the board in Group D but they must beat New Zealand, who are two points above them, in their final game and ensure their net run-rate surpasses the Black Caps and UAE’s.
UAE also have two points and the associate nation must emerge victorious from their final match against South Africa and ensure their net run-rate is superior to both New Zealand and Afghanistan.
