UAE VS AFG - 3rd T20I, Afghanistan tour of United Arab Emirates 2023-24

Zadran takes the Trophy and hands it over to his mates. Big win for the visitors as they were tested big time by UAE. Was a decider and Najibullah showed his class in the end to clinch it for the Afghan unit. We are done for the day. The cricketing action continues. KAD and Vinod bid you bye bye!

Ibrahim Zadran | Afghanistan captain: Nice feeling to have won the series. They gave us a tough time. But happy to have won. We think they were a few runs short. We tried not to give them more than 130. We felt not to give them extra runs. They were short by 15 runs. Will give credit to the bowlers. All credit to them. I was thinking about changing the ends of Naveen. There was a mistake in the last game. Naveen is one of the most senior guys in the team. I put trust in him. There are a few guys who are coming up. Few nice players. There are a few bowlers who are travelling with the team and waiting for their chance. [Signs off with a speech in Pashto].

Muhammad Waseem | UAE captain: Boys fought well. The total was low. We were 10-15 runs short. But some excellent bowling helped. Dhruv is a good talent. He had bowled to them in the ODI series. He bowled very crucial three overs. Junaid bowled very well. Fielding cost us the game. Very good series for the boys. Suri is a good talent. Good keeper-batter. He will good for us in the future.

Naveen-ul-Haq | Player of the Match: Was a crucial game. Was a decider. Had to do it for the team. Was nice to get early breakthroughs for the team. The first over didn't go well for us. I think every guy in the team has been playing for long in leagues and international cricket. Talking to experienced players helps. Good way to prepare for the India series. Hopefully, being under pressure in this series will help us against India. We have some good T20 cricketers coming up.

21:19 Local Time, 17:19 GMT, 22:49 IST: Afghanistan take the series. Najibullah is the man behind the success. Huge win for the visitors as they were really tested. Tested till the very end. The hosts started off well. But hit many roadblocks in the middle overs. But it was Najibullah's cameo which took them home in the penultimate over. Zazai hit some lusty blows and so did Gurbaz but none carried on and that was the problem in this chase. UAE would feel they left a few runs there and that didn't help them during the defence. The chase at least seemed easy when it started off but Afghanistan found it tough as the game moved on. But sadly for UAE 126 was never enough. Stay tuned for the post-match stuff...

Junaid Siddique to Najibullah, SIX, fuller length delivery, outside off, Najibullah lofts it over cover for a sixer. That was in the slot and Najibullah smashed it over the ropes. The visitors take the series 2-1. Najibullah is the star of the evening

Junaid Siddique to Najibullah, SIX, fuller length delivery, Najibullah slams it on top of the bounce and sends it flying over long-off. This man is a priceless batter in the middle-order

Junaid Siddique to Najibullah, 2 runs, back of a length delivery, Najibullah looks to loft it and it lands short of the man at point. They get an extra run on the overthrow

Junaid Siddique [3.0-0-18-2] is back into the attack

Ali Naseer to Sharafuddin Ashraf, no run, slower length delivery, outside off, Sharafuddin Ashraf looks to drive one and misses

Ali Naseer to Najibullah, 1 run, back of a length delivery, stabbed down to point for a single

Ali Naseer to Najibullah, FOUR, back of a length delivery, outside off, angled across, Najibullah lofted it down over mid-off for a four. That was hit well and over the top

Ali Naseer to Najibullah, 2 runs, short ball, on the hips, pulled down on to the on-side for a brace

Ali Naseer to Najibullah, FOUR, straight down the ground for a sixer. Huge blow. Huge shot. That was a length delivery, Najibullah got behind it and lofted it down the ground. The third umpire had a few looks and signalled it as a four

Ali Naseer to Najibullah, no run, back of a length delivery, outside off, Najibullah pats it down to cover

Ali Naseer [3.0-0-13-1] is back into the attack

Jawadullah to Sharafuddin Ashraf, no run, length delivery, Sharafuddin Ashraf stabs it down back to the bowler. 24 needed off 18 balls

Sharafuddin Ashraf, right handed bat, comes to the crease

Jawadullah to Nabi, out Caught by Dhruv Parashar!! Slower length delivery, outside off, Nabi punches it to the man at cover. That was hit uppish and straight to the fielder. The experienced Nabi goes now. 6th one down. UAE fighting back. Nabi c Dhruv Parashar b Jawadullah 1(2)

Jawadullah to Nabi, THATS OUT!! Caught!!