Afghanistan applied final touches to their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 preparations with a 61-run win over Scotland in the opening warm-up fixture in Bengaluru on Monday.
A swashbuckling knock of 84 by Darwish Rasooli powered Afghanistan to 184/6, with the Asian side then bowling Scotland out for 123 in 19.3 overs.
Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat first at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground 1, on a wicket that provided some assistance to the bowlers. With left-arm medium pacer Brad Currie spearheading the attack, Scotland reduced Afghanistan to 20/2 before the first four overs were done.
Rasooli and Ibrahim Zadran (36) calmed down the early nerves with an 82-run stand for the third wicket.
Having put in the work early in the innings, Afghanistan accelerated in the second half, scoring 107 runs in the last 10 overs. Rasooli struck five sixes and seven fours before walking out retired hurt. Experienced all-round Mohammad Nabi also added a quickfire 34 runs off just 16 balls.
The Scottish bowlers suffered from the Afghan onslaught, with three of them going for over 11 runs an over. While Currie kept the batters in check with a disciplined spell of 1/19, Jack Jarvis and Mark Watt claimed two wickets each.
Scotland were unable to get a foothold in the chase as they lost wickets at regular intervals. Only three batters, Michael Jones, Brandon McMullen and Matthew Cross, scored 20 or more runs.
Nabi left a mark with the ball as well, claiming the wickets of Scotland captain Richie Berrington and Finlay McCreath in successive overs. Azmatullah Omarzai was the pick of the bowlers for Afghanistan, returning with figures of 3/14 in three overs.
Having made the semifinals in the previous T20 World Cup in 2024, Afghanistan are bracing for yet another successful outing at the marquee event.
Afghanistan will face West Indies in their final warm-up fixture on February 4 while Scotland go up against Namibia the same day.
