Afghanistan got their T20 World Cup campaign off to a fantastic start. They defeated the debutants Uganda by a massive margin of 125 runs defending the total of 184 runs comfortably. Fazalhaq Farooqi won the player of the match for becoming only the second bowler from Afghanistan to pick up a five-wicket haul as he ended with magical figures of 5/9 in his four overs.
Earlier in the game, after being invited to bat first, Afghanistan openers added a record 154 for the opening wicket. The duo of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran scored runs for fun making the mockery of the opposition bowlers. While Gurbaz smashed 76 runs, his partner got out after scoring 70 runs before the partnership was broken by Uganda skipper Brian Masaba.
However, from here on, Uganda made a stunning comeback picking up five wickets in last 33 balls and not conceding a single boundary restricting Afghanistan to just 183 runs for the loss of five wickets in their 20 overs. In response, Uganda couldn't withstand new ball exploits of Farooqi as they crumbled under pressure.
At one stage, they were 18/5 in less than five overs before eventually getting bundled out for 58 runs in 16 overs. Only two of their batters could reach double-digits as they could hit only four fours and a six. Meanwhile, records tumbled in the fifth match of the T20 World Cup and here we present the list of the same:
1. Second highest opening partnership in T20 World Cup
Gurbaz and Zadran added 154 runs for the first wicket, the second highest opening partnership in the T20 World Cup history. Jos Buttler and Alex Hales are on top of the list having added unbeaten 170 against India in the smeifinal of T20 World Cup 2022.
| Openers | Partnership runs |
| Jos Buttler, Alex Hales | 170* |
| Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz | 154 |
| Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan | 152* |
| Chris Gayle, Dwayne Smith | 145 |
| Kamran Akmal, Salman Butt | 142 |
2. 4th highest winning margin for Afghanistan
Afghanistan won the match by a huge margin of 125 runs which is the fourth highest ever in the history of the mega event in the shortest format. The highest ever victory margin in still Sri Lanka's 172-run win against Kenya back in the inaugural edition.
| Winning margin | Winning team | Losing Team |
| 172 runs | Sri Lanka | Kenya |
| 130 runs | Afghanistan | Scotland |
| 130 runs | South Africa | Scotland |
| 125 runs | Afghanistan | Uganda |
3. Fazalhaq Farooqi's best figures for Afghanistan in T20 World Cup
Fazalhaq Farooqi stunned Uganda with his exceptional bowling in the game picking up five-wicket haul. He also broke Mujeeb Ur Rahman's record to register best figures for Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup. He ended the game with the figures of 5/9 in his four overs, the fourth-best overall in the mega event.
| Player | Bowling Figures |
| Ajantha Mendis | 6/8 |
| Rangana Herath | 5/3 |
| Umar Gul | 5/6 |
| Fazalhaq Farooqi | 5/9 |
4. Uganda's fourth lowest total in T20 World Cup
Uganda were routed for just 58 runs in 16 overs by Afghanistan enroute their 125-run win in this game. This is the fourth lowest total in the history of T20 World Cup with the lowest being of Netherlands (39) against Sri Lanka in the 2014 edition.
| Total | Team | Opposition |
| 39 | Netherlands | Sri Lanka |
| 44 | Netherlands | Sri Lanka |
| 55 | West Indies | England |
| 58 | Uganda | Afghanistan |
