Muhammad Afzal as a captain strongly believes in attack. His batting unit in the first innings even when losing wickets kept counter-attacking. Most loose or full deliveries were promptly dispatched to the boundary despite the situation at hand.
In the end they outscored the Uganda Innings in boundaries; 58/126 in boundaries against 26/114 for Uganda.
He followed this up with attacking field sets throughout the run chase, never once having less men than legally possible around the batsman; Henry Ssenyondo a victim of this with the Sharp Catching at gully by Afzal himself off Ihsan Ullah’s outswing.
Both teams under siege during their innings; Cricket Saudi in attack mode all through.
Worm;
The worm shows that Uganda never dipped below asking rate (Purple area marked) till Frank Nsubuga played on (Red Arrow), which was a tough and unfortunate way for him to go, considering how well he was batting with situation at hand. The lines were tight and fielding even tighter, but he made good contact. To have one creep onto his stumps and dislodge the bails was sheer bad luck, not what the chasing side needed as his partnership with Masaba had begun to take the game away.
His wicket was a huge breakthrough for Saudi Cricket and a turning point in the run chase. Scores were just even after this. 108/8 in 36 for Saudi Cricket in the first innings and 103/8 in 36 for Uganda in the second.
Run Rate;
Uganda lost their first wicket at delivery 8.6; Cricket Saudi at 2.3 and their third by 8.2. At this point however Saudi Cricket run rate is still close to the chasing innings. A little too cautious from Uganda? Good bowling maybe from Saudi?
The big difference is the cluster in which Uganda lost wicket 2,3,4, 5, 6 & 7(Area between the purple lines). The Run Rate dipped significantly and Cricket Saudi effectively negated any advantage Uganda should have gained at the same stage in their innings when Sajeed Imran and Zeeshan Butt were moving at snails’s pace to rebuild their innings from 32/3 in 10 overs.
The difference coming from the 38th over where Bilal Hassun conceded 12 runs; Cricket Saudi just making it to 120. From a hopeless position. Uganda never got that opportunity with the tight back end spells of Afzal, Arif and Huraira backed by equally brilliant fielding.
Types of Runs;
Even with the wickets falling, Cricket Saudi continued to attack, outscoring Uganda in boundaries 13:6.
One may consider the second innings too cautious in approach considering the attacking fields Afzal kept for long periods leaving the outfield open, but numerous shots went straight to fielders in the ring and some loose bowling went unpunished.
In the end; 12 run win for Saudi, 13 extras for Uganda.
