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Afghanistan vs UAE T20 Cricket World Cup Predictions - Gurbaz to score big to secure vital win over UAE

Simon Lewis

Editor

Last updated: 15 Feb 2026

Simon Lewis 15 Feb 2026

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Rahmanullah Gurbaz hit seven sixes in his 42-ball 84 against South Africa.
Aryansh Sharma has scored 54, 25 and 74* in his last five innings.
Can Afghanistan secure a big win over the UAE to keep their Super 8 hopes flickering?

Expired

Rahmanullah Gurbaz plays to leg against South Africa (Getty Images).

Afghanistan vs UAE Predictions

Afghanistan have lost both of their openers, while the UAE have one win in their locker. Despite the UAE being above Afghanistan on the table, they still have to play South Africa. Afghanistan’s two defeats came against Group D favourites New Zealand and South Africa (the latter going to two Super Overs), so they are big favourites to win their last two matches.

Afghanistan vs UAE Predictions
Head-to-Head
Afghanistan Form
UAE Form
Afghanistan vs UAE Team News & Squads

Afghanistan’s Rahmanullah Gurbaz has scored 71, 43, 27 & 84 in his last 4 innings.
Afghanistan’s Gulbadin Naib hit four sixes in his 35-ball 63 against New Zealand.
UAE’s Aryansh Sharma hit nine boundaries in his 53-ball 74* against Canada.
UAE’s Sohaib Khan hit four sixes in his 29-ball 51 against Canada.

Head-to-Head

Afghanistan have won four and lost one of their last five T20Is against the UAE. Afghanistan have won the last three matches on the bounce.

Afghanistan Form

Afghanistan lost their third T20I in a row when they followed their five-wicket defeat to New Zealand by losing to South Africa after a dramatic tie resulted in two Super Overs.

Azmatullah Omarzai picked up 3/41 against the Proteas on the back of figures of 2/20, 3/14, 2/33 and 1/40 in his previous four matches. He has also scored 26*, 35 and 22 in his last five matches. Rashid Khan picked up 2/28 in the South African innings.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz played one of the all-time great T20 World Cup innings as he plundered 11 boundaries off just 42 balls in scoring 84 to take his side to 121/4 in the 13th over. Rashid Khan (20 off 12) and Noor Ahmad (15* off 9) hit out boldly to take Afghanistan to a tie and force a Super Over.

Afghanistan had South Africa under pressure after Azmatullah Omarzai scored 16* off five balls to set South Africa 18 for the win. The Proteas forced a tie to take the match to a second Super Over.

The Proteas hit three sixes in the second Super Over to set Afghanistan 24 to win. A dot ball and a wicket were followed by three sixes from Rahmanullah Gurbaz to set up a grand stand finish, only for Gurbaz to be caught at point off the last ball.

UAE Form

After taking a 10-wicket hammering from New Zealand, the UAE bounced back to pick up their first win of the tournament when they beat Canada by five wickets with just two balls to spare.

The UAE’s bowlers dominated the Canadian top order, who struggled to sustain a competitive run rate. Junaid Siddique (5/35) knocked over four of Canada’s top six as they battled through to a score of 150/7, with the aid of 14 runs coming off the last five balls of the innings. Muhammad Jawadullah (1/16, econ 4.00) picked up the other wicket to fall.

The UAE’s chase got off to a disastrous start as they collapsed to 66/4. UAE’s Aryansh Sharma hit nine boundaries in his 53-ball 74* against Canada. UAE’s Sohaib Khan hit four sixes in his 29-ball 51 against Canada then added 84 for the fifth wicket to take their side to the brink of victory.

Afghanistan vs UAE Team News & Squads

Afghanistan’s South African-born coach Jonathan Trott admitted during the post-match press conference that it was “devastating” losing to South Africa after the 20-over match ended in a tie, as did the first Super Over.

“Just shows what we have as a side. So we’ve got some amazing players and it’s just really devastating for the guys after a tough loss a few days ago against New Zealand and now against South Africa in a tough group as well,” said Trott.

“These guys are never shy of rising up against the challenges that they face throughout their lives on and off the field, so today they should be very proud. It’s important to look at areas we did really well in and areas we could have done better,” added Trott.

In a TV interview after the win over Canada, UAE skipper Muhammad Waseem talked about how he had motivated his players to push for the win.

"I went inside during the break and told them to keep believing in themselves. They showed the world their ability, and the way they played makes me very happy for them. I think we have to improve our batting in the middle overs, specifically from the 7th to the 16th over. We need to look after that phase,” said Waseem.

Afghanistan (possible XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan (c), Fazalhaq Farooqi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Ziaur Rahman Sharifi.

UAE (possible XI): Aryansh Sharma, Muhammad Waseem (c), Alishan Sharafu, Harshit Kaushik, Mayank Kumar, Sohaib Khan, Muhammad Arfan, Dhruv Parashar, Haider Ali, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Rohid.

Verdict

Afghanistan v UAE

I am backing Afghanistan to win. I am also backing Rahmanullah Gurbaz to top score for Afghanistan.

Aryansh Sharma is a good bet to top score for the UAE.

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Simon is a talented sports writer in South Africa with a strong focus on cricket having played first-team level for UCT, including playing at two Universities Weeks.

From a young age Simon was an avid reader of cricket magazines and books, and went on to be Editor of The Googly, CricketScene SA and SA Cricket, in addition to being a Features Writer on SA Sports Illustrated.

He has interviewed most of South Africa's premier cricketers and was the first writer to interview a teenaged Jacques Kallis.

Simon has also written about English and local football, rugby and cricket, in addition to major international tennis and golf stars and competitions.

You can follow more from Simon at Muckrack, X and LinkedIn.