(MENAFN) UAE captain CP Rizwan has said that his team is confident despite being denied a shock win in the deciding T20 international against Afghanistan by an extraordinary innings from Karim Janat. Janat's counter-attack took the game away from UAE, who had appeared on the brink of an upset up until his arrival at the crease in the 14th over. Rizwan acknowledged that the home team had been outplayed by one man, but he was encouraged by the way his side had competed with the Afghans.

Despite a combination of Janat’s brilliance and some untidy fielding on their own part, UAE had earlier posted a total of 163 for six. The team had dropped three catches during their defence, with Rizwan acknowledging that catches make an impact and they had missed their chance when they dropped the catch of Ibrahim Zadran, who went on to score 60.

Rizwan said there are a lot of learning points from the game, and they can react better next time a situation like this arises. He added that Janat's performance was extraordinary, and UAE had put Afghanistan under pressure almost throughout the whole game, which was a huge testament to the bowlers and the way they bowled.

Although the 2-1 loss to Afghanistan is another defeat for the UAE national team, Rizwan said the manner in which his side performed provides reason for optimism. They claimed a comprehensive nine-wicket win in the second match of the three-game series, against a side including star names like Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, and Rahmanullah Gurbaz.

Rizwan added that they played well in patches, and they just need to believe that they can win. The defeat by Afghanistan was another learning experience for them, and hopefully, they can build on this and keep improving. The UAE's recent poor run of results has been a concern, but the team's competitive performances in the series against Afghanistan has restored some confidence.

The team's positive attitude was evident as Rizwan said they would take a lot of positives from the series. The nine-wicket victory over Afghanistan was the highest victory by an Associate member against a Full member, which is quite remarkable. Although they would have loved a series victory, especially given where they were, they are hoping to build on their performance and continue to improve.

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