Irish cricket will face Afghanistan in a three-match Twenty20 International series beginning October 19. Ireland are hoping to build on their poor showing in ODI matches and emerge victorious from this tournament.
Ireland have enjoyed success against Afghanistan, winning 16 out of 30 matches between them and 23 T20Is played against them. In this article, we will discuss about Ireland Cricket Team Vs Afghanistan National Cricket Team Match Scorecard.
Afghanistan vs Ireland 1st T20I
On Friday, Ireland and Afghanistan faced off in their inaugural T20I at Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Both batsmen enjoyed playing freely.
Afghanistan’s bowlers once again displayed their expertise to limit Ireland to an underwhelming total. Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Mohammad Ishaq and Azmatullah Omarzai all fell cheaply before Harry Tector scored an outstanding unbeaten 62 to help lead his side to 111-4 in 18.4 overs.
Afghanistan claimed their victory, marking their inaugural T20I triumph and making their fans very excited! Afghan team celebrated with great joy after this successful match-up.
Rashid Khan made an amazing return after four months out with back injury, dominating Ireland’s top order with ease from the outset. A full and flat delivery had Paul Stirling mistime his shot to long-on, while in the next over he picked out Curtis Campher with an accurate googly that turned in from outside off and bowled him cheaply.
Mark Adair started the innings off on an excellent note by taking three wickets within five overs to reduce their deficit to 8-4. Sediqullah Atal and Mohammad Nabi then joined forces for an unbroken stand of 32 runs that helped put some respectability back onto their scoreboard.
However, their partnership was soon put an end when Ishaq was caught at fine leg off Josh Little for 32. Najib Ahmad Zadran and Mohammad Nabi also fell cheaply before Naveen-ul-Haq endured only 13 balls to leave Afghanistan struggling at 9-6.
Ben White ran through Afghanistan’s lower order with his wrist-spin, dismissing Mohammad Ishaq, Najib Ahmad Zadran and Nangyal Kharoti to leave them all out after 18.4 overs.
Ireland had an opportunity to level the series against Pakistan but were only able to score one run off Mohammad Nabi in the final over, leaving Nabi needing only six runs off short third man for victory; his attempt was denied as Ireland suffered their maiden T20I loss.
Afghanistan vs Ireland 2nd T20I
Ireland fell short of an historic win as they were defeated by Afghanistan by 10 runs in their second T20I at Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Ireland were looking to end a run of poor form but were undone by Rashid Khan, whose brilliant bowling performance shredded through Ireland’s middle order and gave Afghanistan an unassailable 2-0 advantage in the series. Gareth Delany’s late hitting kept Ireland alive but eventually they succumbed.
Ireland were bowled out for just 153 after Afghanistan sent them in to bat, despite an encouraging start by Paul Stirling and Andrew Balbirnie. Unfortunately wickets kept falling quickly as Lorcan Tucker, Curtis Campher and Harry Tector all struggled against Rashid Khan’s bowling power before soon being dispatched off by Rashid Khan’s impressive bowling attack.
Balbirnie managed to score a half-century in his 100th T20I appearance for Leinster Lightning against India – smashing 45 runs off 44 balls with three fours and two sixes – remaining the only Irish batter to reach double figures as Leinster Lightning needed 51 off their final three overs to seal victory.
The visitors struggled to adapt to Afghanistan bowling, until teenage bowler Nangeyalia Kharote finally broke the deadlock by dismissing Mark Adair for a duck in the 13th over. Other Irish wickets fell to Joshua Little, Barry McCarthy and Ben White en route to their heavy defeat at home.
Ireland will look to reverse their poor run of form when they take on Afghanistan in their third and final T20I on Monday. Without some key names from their squad, young players will need to step up and fill their shoes at this crucial juncture of the season. A victory would give Ireland much-needed momentum heading into their World Cup campaign; their squad boasts quality but must improve batting performances if they are going to succeed at that level of tournament play.
Afghanistan vs Ireland 3rd T20I
Ibrahim Zadran scored an unbeaten 72 – his highest T20I score – while Azmatullah Omarzai claimed four wickets as Afghanistan rallied to beat Ireland in their final T20I of the series. Ireland were bowled out for just 98 in their second innings; ending their tour on an uplifting note but with plenty of takeaways from this contest.
Afghanistan won the toss, elected to bat first and Rahmanullah Gurbaz was dismissed for just three. Mohammad Ishaq and Zadran then shared in an impressive 54-run stand before Ishaq was quickly bowled for a first-ball duck by Gareth Delany; that allowed Zadran back onto the crease.
The 22-year-old kept hitting cleanly, reaching his half century off 51 balls in 18th over with six fours and two sixes – as Afghanistan continued their fight until Sediqullah Atal mistimed a lob off Paul Stirling to fall lbw.
Azmatullah Omarzai then removed Harry Tector and George Dockrell with ease, the former caught at deep midwicket while Dockrell was bowled off the inside edge by Naveen-ul-Haq for just six runs off an inside edge delivery by Naveen-ul-Haq; Naveen went on to destroy their middle order, leaving the visitors 15-3 in their chase of 211 runs.
Barry McCarthy attempted to fight back but was unable to connect with a googly that spun across the pad, and was caught by Rashid Khan at long on. Naveen then delivered another blow by dismissing Boyd Rankin for just 1 wicket as Ireland were all out for 98 runs.
The match was held under ideal conditions and its pitch appeared to be in great condition throughout. But when dew swept across the outfield in the 13th over, everything changed drastically for Ireland – they had been performing reasonably well up until that point; they even reached what could have been an extremely decisive position early in their chase if not for Afghanistan’s impressive comeback and eventual dominance of Irish. Afghanistan gave no quarter in defeating their opponents – their impressive performance surely serving as a warning signal to any team visiting Afghanistan!
Afghanistan vs Ireland 4th T20I
Afghanistan used an impressive batting performance to take another comfortable victory and level the series at two each. They dominated throughout, setting an enormous target for Ireland to chase; their openers struggled but middle order members led by Rashid Khan led successfully, earning him Player of the Match accolades for both bat and ball performance.
Irish struggled hard to meet their required run rate but it proved too much in an eight over game. Andy Balbirnie and Paul Stirling produced some solid partnerships, yet wickets kept falling until eventually all out for only 104 runs in 18.3 overs.
Afghanistan’s bowlers performed admirably and collected several crucial wickets throughout their innings. Young leg spinner Gareth Delany made an especially strong showing, conceding only five runs during three overs of spin.
Mohammad Nabi, the Afghan captain, expresses his thanks to Allah for keeping them alive in this series. He believes they have improved since their previous outing on the field and Najibullah Zadran has proven himself an important batsman at the death due to his power.
On Wednesday at Lord’s, Lord’s hosts its fifth and final T20I tournament of 2015. Stay informed with all of the action with live ball-by-ball commentary from our ball-by-ball commentator; or view live streams via our official YouTube channel; you can even find highlights from each match on our Facebook page!
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