Afghanistan completed an historic Intercontinental Cup victory over Scotland at the Dubai Cricket Stadium on Saturday, taking the trophy at their first attempt just forty minutes into the afternoon session of the third of the scheduled five days.

The win had been set up by a spirited performance from the Afghans on Friday evening, and they quickly snuffed out any prospect of another Scottish recovery as it took them only 56 deliveries on Saturday to claim the remaining four wickets and dismiss Scotland for 82, their lowest-ever total in this competition.

Mirwais Ashraf secured the early breakthrough when he had Majid Haq caught in the slips in the second over of the morning, and then Richie Berrington was dismissed in a similar fashion when he edged a Hamid Hassan delivery to Asghar Stanikzai.

Then Mirwais finished it off, bowling Gordon Drummond and getting Ross Lyons caught behind in the space of four balls to finish with the remarkable figures of three for 8. Hamid took three for 39, giving him match figures of eight for 84.

It was another ill-tempered session, with the Afghans constantly appealing and being given a considerable degree of latitude by the umpires, and the controversy flowed over into the Afghan innings which followed, as they set out to make the 124 they needed for victory.

Matthew Parker bowled with great fire, troubling all the batsmen, and the Scots might have clawed their way back into the game had two slip catches not gone down off his bowling. But the ill-feeling which had been generated earlier led to his being spoken to by the umpires, and it took some strong captaincy from Gordon Drummond – back on the field but unable to bowl – to keep him on the rails.

It was, of course, a situation which suited the Afghan approach to batting, and Karim Sadeq and Shabir Noori went for their shots as if they were playing a Twenty20 match. It was Karim’s downfall, as he top-edged a pull shot off Parker and was superbly caught by McCallum running back from slip.

But this brought Mohammad Shahzad to the crease, and he was at his most uninhibited, living dangerously at times, especially against Ross Lyons, but also unleashing a series of fine strokes as he raced to 36 by the lunch interval.

Afghanistan were on 75 for one at that point, just 49 away from victory.

Scotland had not given up, however, and when Lyons resumed after the interval he was rewarded with immediate success, Shabir edging to keeper Smith off the fourth ball of the afternoon session. He had made 35 from 52 deliveries, with five fours.

Nawrooz Mangal quickly hit Lyons out of the attack, belting three boundaries off his next over, but Parker then trapped the Afghan skipper in front with eight still needed for victory.

That gave Shahzad the chance to reach a thoroughly-deserved half-century, and shortly afterwards he hit the winning run to trigger the traditionally wild Afghan celebrations. It had been a magnificent performance from a very good side, who batted indifferently on Friday but came back with great character and determination.

In Hamid Hassan, rightly declared Man of the Match, they have an outstanding fast bowler, but in this match Mirwais Ashraf and Samiullah Shenwari, two of the less heralded members of the team, also performed well, while Nawrooz’s fine innings on Friday ensured that the deficit was not as large as it might otherwise have been.

And then there’s Shahzad, who finished the competition with 802 runs at an average of 80.20. He may not have a classic technique, but there is no doubting his effectiveness, or his fiercely competitive approach.

For Scotland, the highlights of the match were Neil McCallum’s first-day century, and some fine bowling in the first innings from Majid Haq, Richie Berrington and Matthew Parker. But in the end they could not compete with the Afghans’ skill and determination and, McCallum apart, their batsmen let them down badly in both innings.