Scotland openers George Munsey and Michael Jones gave England a fright in their T20 World Cup opener in Barbados on Tuesday before rain spared the defending champions a potentially tough chase.

Scotland, in their first T20 against their border rivals, were bidding to match their shock success when they last met England — a six-run one-day international win in Edinburgh back in 2018.

England, meanwhile, were desperate to improve on a woeful defence of their 50-over global title in India last year, where Jos Buttler’s men lost six of their nine matches.

But after Scotland captain Richie Berrington won the toss on Tuesday, they failed to create one clear and legitimate wicket-taking chance.

Munsey (41 not out off 31 balls) and Jones (45 not out off 30) batted superbly to take non-Test nation Scotland to 90-0 in a rain-interrupted innings of 10 overs at the Kensington Oval.

But a fresh downpour led the umpires to abandon the Group B match before England, on a ground where they won the 2010 T20 World Cup final, could begin their reply.

Both England and Scotland received a point each.

“We expected a tough challenge, there are no easy games, but we were confident coming into the game,” said England captain Buttler.

“It’s disappointment for everyone… We scrapped hard and we were confident of chasing that score down.”

“Hopefully we get a dry day and we can get into the tournament.”

In the Group D clash on Tuesday, Max O’Dowd’s unbeaten half-century steered the Netherlands to a six-wicket victory over Nepal in their T20 World Cup clash.

Set a target of 107 to win, O’Dowd anchored the Netherlands’ run chase with 54 off 48 balls to see the Dutch over the line at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas.

The Netherlands finished on 109-4 off 18.4 overs, with Bas de Leede hitting the winning runs with a boundary to seal victory.

Watch Live!

Ariana Television Network is broadcasting the T20 World Cup live in Afghanistan. Fans can tune in daily to watch the event. – AFP

The presence of a two-time T20 World Cup winner is providing additional help to Afghanistan as they plot their way through the initial stages of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.

Afghanistan’s statement win in their opening group match shows they have the goods to make a deep impact in this edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

The Asian side’s openers showed solid form, while speedster Fazalhaq Farooqi ran through Uganda’s batting line-up.

Such was their impact, that even ace spinner Rashid Khan wasn’t needed to do Rashid Khan things to win it for Afghanistan.

The team continues to grow in cricketing power – proving potent with both bat and ball – in a performance that matched their eye-catching efforts from last year’s ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.

And they have an added advantage in this competition, a dash of local knowledge in the form of bowling consultant Dwayne Bravo.

Speaking after his side’s first-up win, coach Jonathan Trott credited the contribution of Bravo, who has brought about a change in the approach of Afghanistan bowlers.

“DJ (Dwayne Bravo) coming into the side, fantastic,” Trott said.
“Having quality coaches also with huge experience as players [is great], but also vast franchise experience in this format of the game.

“[It’s] only a brilliant thing to have a player like him coming to the side as coach and it makes your job a lot easier but it also makes the coaching more enhanced, especially with the bowlers.

“We’ve seen the start of his first game with us and we saw the bowlers bowl really well, so credit to Dwayne.

“So (a) nice start for the boys.”

For Uganda however, things were not so rosy after they were outplayed by Afghanistan early Tuesday morning.

It was a huge learning experience for the African side – the nation’s first ever T20 World Cup match; and captain Brian Masaba was focusing on the positives.

“Pretty special moment for us, hearing our national anthem and seeing our flag at the World Cup,” Masaba said after the match.

“First game at the World Cup, (a) lot of nerves, so good to get that out of the way,” Masaba added. “Something I will cherish for the rest of my life. We will look to come out and play better next game,” he said.

Match highlights

Afghanistan thrashed Uganda by 125 runs in the teams opening Group C match at the T20 World Cup in Guyana on Tuesday morning.

Openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz (76) and Ibrahim Zadran (70) laid the foundation for the victory with a superb partnership of 154 as Afghanistan finished their innings on 183-5.

Afghanistan bowler Fazalhaq Farooqi then spearheaded a clinical bowling performance with five wickets for just nine runs as Uganda were skittled for 58 at Georgetown’s Providence Stadium.

Farooqi was named Player of the Match for his electric performance. His figures were the fourth best in a Men’s T20 World Cup.

Watch Matches Live!

Once again Ariana Television Network is bringing all the thrills of this year’s event into the homes of Afghans across the country.

Tune in live and exclusively on Ariana Television to watch one of the world’s greatest sporting events live; and watch this space for updated news on the T20 World Cup 2024.

Germany’s far-right party calls for Afghan refugees to be sent home after knife attack

Following a knife attack on an anti-Islam demonstration in Germany, leaders of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), the country’s far-right party, have called for a stop to immigration and the “repatriation” of Afghan migrants already in the country.

“Our thoughts are with all civil servants who have to put their lives in danger every day because of a misguided migration and security policy,” said the AfD’s national co-leaders, Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel.

They also called on the federal government to diplomatically engage with the Islamic Emirate for the repatriation of Afghan refugees and to stop migration.

On Friday, a 25-year-old man, said to be an Afghan national, injured six people in a knife attack on an anti-Islam demonstration in the German city of Mannheim.

One of the wounded, who was a police officer, died on Sunday.

City Medical Complex Kabul Premier League 2024, the second season of the exciting T20 tournament, got underway on Tuesday in Kabul.

Six teams are taking part in the 11-day 20-over format tournament which is being held at the Ayoubi Sports Complex in Kabul.

Officials from Ayoubi Sports Complex said senior players have been included in the tournament so as to share their experience with junior players.

City Medical Complex “Kabul Premier League is a league where seniors and juniors, national heroes and under 19 players participate so that national players can share their experience from international games and the future generation of Afghanistan could handle the pressure in big games and represent the national team and the under-19 team,” said Abdul Latif Ayoubi, the head of Ayoubi Sports Complex.

Officials of the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) also expressed hope that this tournament will be a success as it has been in the past.

“The private sector supports domestic cricket in addition to making profit, as many young players get the opportunity and they can gradually progress and get into big teams,” said Nazeem Jar Abdulrahimzai, the domestic cricket manager for the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB).

The first match of the tournament saw Kabul Knight Riders take on Band Amir Stars on Tuesday.

The tournament is broadcast live and exclusively on Ariana Television.