Afghanistan's Azmatullah Omarzai records maiden four-fer in T20 World Cups
What's the story
Afghanistan restricted the UAE to 160/9 (20 overs) in the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup encounter at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi. While Sohaib Khan scored a half-century for the UAE, Azmatullah Omarzai was the pick of Afghanistan's bowlers. The latter took four wickets for just 15 runs in his allotted four overs. Omarzai recorded his maiden four-wicket haul in the tournament.
Spell
Omarzai dismisses these batters
Omarzai, who started the proceedings for Afghanistan, impressed with his variations. He dismissed Aryansh Sharma for a duck in the very first over. The former bowled another over in the Powerplay before returning in the middle overs. He dismissed Syed Haider and Harshit Kaushik in the 15th over. Bowling the 19th over, Omarzai removed Sohaib Khan to complete his four-fer.
Milestone
Maiden T20 WC four-fer for Omarzai
As mentioned, Omarzai recorded his maiden four-wicket haul in T20 World Cups. According to ESPNcricinfo, he now has the fourth-best match figures for Afghanistan in the tournament, only behind Fazalhaq Farooqi (5/9), Mujeeb Ur Rahman (5/20), and Rashid Khan (4/9). Overall, Omarzai became the fourth Afghan player to record four-plus wickets in a T20 World Cup innings.
Career
Omarzai reaches 50 T20I wickets
Omarzai has been among the wickets in the ongoing T20 World Cup. He took 3/41 against South Africa in the historic double Super Over thriller. In 65 T20Is, the Afghan all-rounder has raced past 50 wickets (53) at an average of 24.71. This was his third four-wicket haul in the format. His economy rate in T20Is reads 8.17.