Afghanistan established a strong claim to leadership of Group A at the Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday afternoon, when they beat their closest rivals, the Netherlands, by 4 wickets with two balls to spare.

It was a hard-fought match throughout, but in the end the Dutch were unable to create sufficient pressure to overcome their talented and determined opponents.

Two half-centuries were the highlights of the respective innings: Alexei Kervezee made an unbeaten 43-ball 58 for the Netherlands which included no fours but three sixes – two of them in the final over – while Mohammad Shahzad's 54, made from 44 deliveries with eight fours, proved decisive and earned him the Man of the Match award.

Shahzad was supported by equally hard-hitting knocks from Nowroz Mangal (26 from 19 balls) and Mohammad Nabi (22 from 13 balls), but it was left to Noor Ali Zadran, batting at No. 8 after injuring himself in the field, to hammer two boundaries off Ashan Malik Jamil's final over to settle the match.

The Dutch total of 149 for six had seemed reasonably challenging as the Afghan run chase began, and it looked even better when Karim Sadiq was well caught at mid-off by Pieter Seelaar off Mudassar Bukhari's bowling with just 14 on the board.

But stand-in opener Gulbadain Naib dug in with Shahzad, and after he fell with the total on 47, pulling Peter Borren's first delivery to deep backward square, Shahzad and Nowroz proceeded to add 58 for the third wicket in seven and a half overs.

Seelaar bowled a steady initial spell, conceding just 16 from three overs which would have been even more impression if Nowroz had not hoisted his penultimate ball over the boundary rope. Bukhari, too, was difficult to get away, but he bowled just one over early on, only coming back to bowl the 19th and claim a valuable wicket.

By that time, though, the Afghans needed 16 from the last two overs with wickets in hand, and it was left to the comparatively inexperiended Jamil to try to prevent them taking nine off the last. Noor Ali's two boundaries decisively frustrated that attempt.

That Afghanistan were chasing 150 was due in very large measure to Kervezee, who anchored the Dutch innings once Michael Swart (22) and Stephan Myburgh (19) had departed in the space of six deliveries after again giving their side a spirited start.

Tom Cooper was run out before he could really get going, and with off-spinner Karim Sadiq and leg-break exponent Samiullah Shenwari bowling tidy four-over spells for 19 and 25 respectively and the wicket of an opener apiece, the innings lost momentum in the middle overs, as it had against the Canadians on Tuesday.

Wesley Barresi, Borren and Bukhari came and went, and with Kervezee going along at a run a ball it seemed for much of the innings that the Dutch would do well to repeat their total of 135 against Canada.

Then Kervezee raised the tempo, smashing Izatollah Dawlatzai, who had earlier claimed three wickets at comparatively modest cost and missed a fourth when he dropped Kervezee off his own bowling, back over his head for a splendid straight six and then hammering his next delivery into the stands at deep midwicket to bring up his half-century.

It gave the Netherlands hope, but they needed their bowlers to perform at their absolute best if they were to contain Afghanistan's dangerous top and middle order, and this they were unable to do.

The Afghan win did more than cement the side's position, along with Nepal, at the top of the Group A table: it also moved them up to eighth place in the ICC's Twenty20 rankings, above the West Indies, Ireland, and Zimbabwe.

Afghanistan will next face Denmark in Sharjah on Thursday, while the Netherlands will travel to Abu Dhabi to take on Bermuda, who have so far lost to the Danes and to Hong Kong.