T20 World Cup 2021: Mujeeb ur Rahman bags a new record after taking five wickets against Scotland

Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb ur Rahman scripted his name in the history books as he scalped 5-20 in his quota of four overs against Scotland in the team’s opening match of the T20 World Cup at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Monday.

Thus, the talisman spinner has become the third bowler to take a five-wicket haul in the T20 World Cup history.

Sri Lankan’s spinners Ajanta Mendis (6/8) vs Zimbabwe in 2014 and Rangana Herath (5-3) against New Zealand are the other two bowlers who have taken fifers in T20 World Cup matches.

Furthermore, Mujeeb ur Rahman also became the second bowler in T20 World Cup history to take four wickets in powerplay overs after India’s Ravichandran Ashwin.

Rahman struck thrice in his maiden over as he dismissed Scotland captain Kyle Coetzer, Calum MacLeod, and Richie Berrington. The mystery spinner bamboozled Scotland batters with his variations and they had no clue about his wizardry. Rahman also accounted for George Munsey and Mark Watt and thus he was awarded the Player of the match for his fine bowling spell.

Speaking after Afghanistan’s big win, Mujeeb said: “Very happy that we won our first match. This is my first World Cup game and I won the Man of the Match. The fans bring in a lot of energy and that’s why we played positive cricket tonight.”

Afghanistan obliterated Scotland by a huge margin of 130 runs as Scotland was skittled out for a paltry score of 60 runs after Afghanistan had posted a par score of 190 runs.

On the other hand, Rashid Khan also had a great outing as he returned with impressive figures of 4-9 in 2.2 overs he bowled. Earlier, Najibullah Zadran scored a fine knock of 59 runs to help his team post a par score.

Afghanistan will next face Pakistan on Friday at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.