Afghanistan v Ireland, 1st T20I Review: Afghans register simple win

Jan 12, 2019 at 12:41 AM

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Afghanistan v Ireland, 1st T20I Review: Afghans register simple win

Afghanistan cruised to a six-wicket win over Ireland in the 1st T20I of the three-match series at Greater Noida. The Irishmen reached a respectable 165/5 after winning the toss and opting to bat first. In response, the Afghans, playing on their adopted home ground, required just 18 overs to overhaul the target and go 1-0 up in the series.

Samiullah Shenwari, the right-handed batsmen, registered his maiden T20 fifty to drive the chase from the front. Afghanistan, who recently beat their rivals in the DesertT20 challenge, continued their dominance over them by improving the head to head win-loss record, making it 5-3 overall.

William Porterfield’s decision to come down at no. three from the opening slot made little difference as he was forced to walk out in the hot day in the first over itself. Amir Hamza drew the first blood immediately off the fourth ball of the match with the wicket of Paul Stirling who saw his timbers due to a poor shot selection.

The on-field batting pair of Thompson and Porterfield quickly rebuilt the inning with 82 runs for the second wicket and took the visitors to a comfortable position by the time the first innings reached its halfway stage. The stand saw its end in the 10th over when Hamza struck again with the wicket of Thompson. The bowling side made a good comeback in the following overs chipping with the wickets of Porterfield, and Kevin O Brien.

Porterfield could not survive long after the departure of Thompson and ran himself out in the 13th over while the latter was brought down by leg-spinner Rashid Khan in the 15th over. These couple of wicket proved to be huge as Ireland lost their momentum briefly which resulted in them ending up at least 20 runs short of the score which they posted eventually.

Gary Wilson, however, did let the sudden blows hamper much and contributed brilliantly with a 27-ball 41-run knock to propel his side to a defendable total.

Afghanistan’s reply was steady. The opening pair of Mohammad Shahzad and Najeeb Tarakai added up 51 runs at a brisk pace for the first wicket before they were separated by Kevin O’Brien in the fifth over. Tarakai could not capitalise on the swift start he achieved as he played a false shot which led to a leading edge into the gloves of wicket-keeper Wilson.

Ireland found no reprieve unfortunately as Samiullah Shenwari and Shahzad carried on with the onslaught and put 73 runs off just 8.5 overs to throw the Irishmen out of the contest. Shahzad unluckily missed on a deserving fifty by just three runs after he was run out in the 14th over. Shenwari though committed and mistake and reached the milestones only to miss out on hitting the winning runs as he departed in the 17th over just with just five runs required for Afghanistan to win the match. The honours of finishing the match were stylishly done by Asghar Stanikzai who hit a six to finish the match.

Brief Scores

Ireland: 165/6 (Stuart Thompson 56; Amir Hamza 2/23)

Afghanistan: 171/4 in 18 overs (Samiullah Shenwari 56; Stuart Thompson 1/17)

 

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