Reaching the Super 12 stage in style by winning all the three qualifying matches, Scotland got a reality check in their opening game of the T20 World Cup’s main round.

Beaten in all aspects of the game, particularly when it came to tackling spin, it turned out to be a harsh lesson for the Scotsmen as Afghanistan thrashed them by 130 runs in Monday’s Group II encounter at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

The conditions were certainly more in favour of the Afghans, though they went into the game a bit undercooked owing to the political situation back home. But taking that challenge in their stride, they exploited the conditions wonderfully well and produced a clinical performance to register their biggest win in T20Is in terms of runs.

Posting a formidable total of 190/4, Afghanistan bundled Scotland out for a paltry 60 with as many as 58 balls remaining.

In other words, the Scotland batsmen were rendered clueless before Mujib Ur Rahman’s off-spin and the googlies churned out by ace leg-spinner Rashid Khan.

Mujib finished with a five-for in his maiden T20 World Cup appearance, while Rashid scalped four with Scotland lasting just 10.2 overs.

On a sluggish Sharjah pitch, Afghanistan opted to bat first after winning the toss and courtesy openers Hazratullah Zazai and wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Shahzad, they got off to a brisk start.

The openers laid the platform, putting on 54 before being separated in the sixth over. After Shahzad’s departure, Zazai too was dismissed soon after as the Afghans’ scoring rate dropped a bit. They were 82/2 in the 10th over then.

But Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Najibullah Zadran’s skillful batting and excellent execution of strokes helped Afghanistan accelerate. The duo stitched a superb 87 for the third wicket. Zadran top-scored with 59 off just 34 balls, while Gurbaz fell 4 short of what would have been a deserving a half-century.

Captain Mohammad Nabi, thereafter, hit two boundaries to remain not out on 11 off just four balls, taking the team total to 190.

The task was cut out for Scotland, especially, the challenge of dealing with the Afghan spinners.

George Munsey and Kyle Coetzer took their team off to a decent start, but one over from Mujeeb turned the game completely in favour of Afghanistan. It was the fourth over of Scotland’s reply when the 20-year-old Mujeeb, who has the experience of playing in the IPL, cleaned up captain Coetzer and trapped both Calum MacLeod and Richie Berrington in a span of five balls.

Striking thrice in that over, Mujeeb had more or less ensured the game was headed only one way. The Scotsmen could never recover from that triple blow. Mujeeb, adjudged Player of the Match, took little time to take his tally of wickets to five as he removed Munsey and Mark Watt thereafter.

After Mujeeb triggered the collapse, Rashid made sure he completed the demolition work. The ball too kept a little bit low as the game progressed and the two spinners used that to perfection.

“This was our plan, to bat first and put up a big score. Our openers started really well, finished the Powerplay with a good total and then Rahmanullah and Najibullah rotated the strike really well,” captain Nabi said at the post-match presentation.

About the performances of Mujeeb and Rashid, Nabi stated: “Everyone knows Rashid and Mujeeb are among the best spinners in the world. I would only say that we are a nice team and, hopefully, we’ll keep winning.”

To be fair to Scotland, they never really came across such conditions. Agreed they overcame Bangladesh, another spin-reliant team, in the qualifying stage, but conditions in Al-Amerat (Oman) were not really like that of Sharjah.

“Clearly not one of our better days,” Coetzer said. “We have been playing some good cricket to get here, but sometimes things don’t go according to plan.

“This was against a very good Afghanistan team on a potentially tricky pitch, so we have to give them credit.”