SCORECARDCOMMENTARY
AFG WON
T20
AFG beat IRE by 84 runs
Man of the Match - Hazratullah Zazai
AFG
278-3
20.0/20 Ovrs
194-6
20.0/20 Ovrs
IRE
Afghanistan and Ireland in India, 3 T20I Series, 2019 |2nd T20I |2/23/2019
Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Dehradun
Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Dehradun
Commentary
- Right! 2-0 then, very much expected. But what happened in this game has almost blown everyone away. Afghanistan have made the statisticians take note of them and be it against any team, still, making almost 280 is no bare feat. The two teams come back again on Sunday, February 24, 2019, at 6.30 pm local (1300 GMT) where one will look for a whitewash while the other would be aiming to take something from this series. Do join us then. ADIOS! TAKE CARE!
- Victorious Afghanistan skipper, Asghar Afghan, too, thanks the almighty for the victory in the game and also the series. Stresses that this is a historic moment. On the changes for the final game, Asghar says that there will be a team meeting on Sunday after which, some new guys might be given a chance. Agrees that Usman Ghani played very well which came as a positive in the misfiring top order. Adds that it also indicates how good a bench strength they have.
- HAZRATULLAH ZAZAI HAS BEEN NAMED THE MAN OF THE MATCH. Anyone surprised? Thanks the almighty for enabling him to play well tonight. Smiles and cheekily says that it was his day. Adds that the wicket was good for batting and all bowlers struggled, as he made merry.
- Ireland captain Paul Stirling says that chasing over 270 is always a tough task and wants to forget this difficult evening and come back fresh tomorrow. Admits that around 220-230 would have been chaseable. Is happy from a personal point of view on this score tonight but also hopes that as a group, they came back better on Sunday.
- Another series win for Afghanistan. But their bowling was finally tested tonight. They did not seem to have any answers to the openers' onslaught but Mujeeb and Rashid came out trumps again. 8-0-55-5 combined they wreaked and the opposition simply had no clue. Please do stay tuned to know what the two captains have to say...
- Nothing much can be said about a side when it concedes 278 in the first place but as a positive, the visitors at least tried to fight. Their disappointment would be in the fact that none of the others stepped up after the openers. They might still not have won but the match would have been interesting.
- Well, a defeat was expected but at least the Ireland gave some sort of a fight. They put in a 126-run opening stand but once O'Brien fell, so did the curtains. In such tall chases, one wicket mostly leads to another quickly and suddenly, the Irish were 165/6 from 126/0.
- 19.60K Janat to S Singh, Full and outside off, Simi looks to flick but misses and is hit on the pads. That is the end of the game. AFGHANISTAN WIN BY 84 RUNS.
- 19.51K Janat to S Poynter, Outside off, punched down to long on for a run.
- 19.44K Janat to S Poynter, FOUR! Off the edge. 7 needed in 2 for that 200. On a good length outside off, Poynter looks to steer it to third man but is squared up. The ball goes off the outside edge past short third man for a boundary.
- 19.36K Janat to S Poynter, SIX! Full length delivery outside off, Poynter clears his front foot and sends it over the long off fence for a maximum.
- 19.21K Janat to S Singh, Short of a length delivery, Singh pulls it towards the keeper where he dives to collect but fumbles. It goes towards fine leg. The batsmen take a run.
- 19.11K Janat to S Poynter, Short and outside off, Poynter makes room and cuts it through point for a run.
- END OF OVER 19 | 10 Runs & 0 Wkt | IRE 181/6
- Karim Janat to bowl the final over of the match.
- 18.60M Nabi to S Singh, Bowls full on off, Singh plays it back towards the bowler.
- 18.51M Nabi to S Poynter, Full again on off, Poynter drives it through wide mid off for a run.
- 18.41M Nabi to S Singh, Full on middle, Singh drives it through mid on for a run.
- 18.36M Nabi to S Singh, SIX! This is huge. Once again Nabi bowls it short but this time he is punished. Singh sees the length early and rocks onto his back foot and sends this over the mid-wicket fence for a biggie.
- 18.21M Nabi to S Poynter, Once again off spinner which is bowled short, Poynter looks to pull but gets an inside edge onto the pad. The ball goes towards the off side and they take a single.
- 18.11M Nabi to S Singh, Shorter around off, Singh punches it towards long on for a single.
- END OF OVER 18 | 7 Runs & 1 Wkt | IRE 171/6
- Mohammad Nabi is back on.
- 17.61R Khan to S Singh, Flighted delivery on middle, Singh sweeps it towards square leg for a run.
- 17.54R Khan to S Singh, FOUR! Full and way outside leg, Simi gets down and paddles it past short fine leg for a boundary!