Afghanistan: 184 (Najeeb Tarakai; Barry McCarthy 4-33)
Ireland 93/9 in 11 overs (Paul Stirling 34; Rashid Khan 5-3)
While Australia’s tour of India is taking all the limelight in the cricketing season at the moment, a lesser known T20 series is slowly going about its way entertaining the fans.
Two teams out of the top 5 of the ICC rankings for the shortest format, Afghanistan and Ireland are involved in a 3 match series that was settled in a nail-biting finish today.
Having won the toss, Asghar Stanikzai decided to make use of the batting condition with rain looming large and chose to bat. They lost the explosive Shehzad 4 (4b) early and lost the skipper just two overs later, leaving the score at 12-1 after 2.3 overs.
Samiullah Shenwari however, helped steady the ship and gave Najeeb Tarakai a helping hand as Afghanistan managed to up the scoring rate.
Though they lost Shenwari 17 (16b) and then Samiullah Shafiq 0 (1b) within a few runs , Karim Janat and Tarakai managed to put on a 49 run partnership to take the score past the 100 mark.
Some lusty hitting late in the game from Mohammad Nabi 34 (15b) and Tarakai who lost his wicket in the last over for 90 (58b) took the batting side’s score to 184 in the 20 overs.
On the pitch, it was a score that was gettable and Ireland made a superb start to their innings as they raced to 65 with the loss of just 2 wickets by the end of the power play.
Paul Sterling’s 34 (15b) and skipper William Porterfield’s 22 (15b) laid the perfect platform for the chasing side but just a ball after the powerplay, the game was interrupted by rain.
Though it was nothing threatening an end to the game, the rain interruption saw the target reduced to 111 of just 11 overs according to the Duckworth-Lewis Stern Method.
This meant that Ireland had to score 46 runs in 4.5 overs but Karim Janat managed to pick both the wickets up, which bought Afghanistan back into the game.
But it was an astounding effort from an 18-year old Rashid Khan who returned with 5 wickets for 3 runs from just 2 overs after the rain break that won Afghanistan the game.
In the space of just 11 deliveries, Khan picked up the wickets of Barry McCarthy 0 (1b), Greg Thompson 1 (4b), Lorcan Tucker 9 (6b), Gary Wilson 1 (2b) and Kevin O Brien 5 (8), to win his side the game. His return is now the best for a bowler from an associate nation in the shortest format of the game.
This win put Afghanistan 2-0 clear in the three match series and also gave them a unique record in the shortest format.
They are now unbeaten in their last 10 international T20 games, which is the best streak for a team in the history of the game. Both teams face each other in the final game of the series on the 12th of March at the Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground, Greater Noida