AFG WON
ODI
AFG beat IRE by 5 wickets
Man of the Match - Gulbadin Naib
IRE
161-10
49.2/50 Ovrs
 
165-5
41.5/50 Ovrs
AFG
Afghanistan and Ireland in India, 5 ODI Series, 2019 |1st ODI |2/28/2019
Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Dehradun
Commentary
  • That's all from this match. Victory for Afghanistan was never in doubt but they took the longer route to reach the target. The second ODI is on Saturday at 1300 local (0730 GMT). Do join us for all the action. Until then, it's goodbye and cheers!
  • Afghanistan's skipper, Asghar Afghan is really happy with the performance and reckons that the first game of the series is really important. Adds that chasing is not an issue and they were just being careful. Praises Mohammad Shahzad for his knock. On Nabi's injury, Asghar informs that he's fine.
  • Man of the Match, Gulbadin Naib says that it's not easy to play in this kind of team and he is delighted to perform and contribute to this success. On his bowling, he replies that he just tried to maintain a tight line.
  • Ireland's skipper, William Porterfield says that picking early wickets would have given them a chance but it didn't come. Feels the wicket was a tough one and it was not easy to play strokes fluently. Reckons that 220-230 would have been a good chase. Admits that their batting let them down. Mentions that it's more mental for them as the pitch is going to remain more or so similar throughout this series.
  • Earlier, it was an abysmal batting show by Ireland. They were completely at sea against the spin of Mujeeb Ur Rahman and at one stage were tottering on 69/6. The 76-run stand between Paul Stirling and George Dockrell took them past the 150-run mark but it was never going to be enough. Afghanistan adopted a cautious approach in their run chase. The first two partnerships nearly sealed the deal and after a bit of hard work the 49-run stand between Gulbadin Naib and Asghar Afghan brought them close to 161. Towards the end, two lusty blows from Najibullah Zadran finished things off for the Afghans.
  • A victory in the 42nd over while chasing a target of 162 runs. Afghanistan really had to sweat hard to go 1-0 up in the 5-match series. Not even for once, the Afghans looked in trouble but the going was extremely slow from them. Whether Ireland bowled superbly or Afghanistan were too cautious, we leave that up to you to find out. The surface was on the slower side but not so tough to rotate the strike. 172 dot balls bowled by the Irish bowlers but they were defending such a small target that it didn't build enough pressure on the opposition.
  • 41.5
    6
    G Dockrell to N Zadran, SIX! All over, finally. AFGHANISTAN WIN BY 5 WICKETS! Dockrell serves a flighted full ball around leg, Najibullah turns and dispatches it over mid-wicket for the winning runs.
  • 41.4
    0
    G Dockrell to N Zadran, Short and outside off, punched down but straight to mid off.
  • 41.3
    6
    G Dockrell to N Zadran, SIX! Lusty blow! Floated and full around middle and off, Zadran kneels down and launches it over long on for a biggie.
  • Najibullah Zadran walks in next.
  • 41.2
    W
    G Dockrell to G Naib, OUT! Catching practice for the bowler! Naib won't get his fifty. A soft dismissal really. A flighted ball around middle and leg, Gulbadin tries to flick but closes the face of the bat early. It flies back to the bowler off the leading edge and Dockrell makes no mistake in his followthrough. Less than 10 runs needed for a win.
  • 41.1
    1
    G Dockrell to A Afghan, Tossed up ball around leg, clipped towards square leg for a run.
  • END OF OVER 41 | 16 Runs & 0 Wkt | AFG 152/4
  • 40.6
    4
    B Rankin to G Naib, FOUR! A high full toss around leg, Naib turns and deflects it fine down the leg side for a boundary. Lucky it wasn't called a no ball for height. 16 from the over, 10 more needed.
  • 40.5
    6
    B Rankin to G Naib, SIX! High and handsome, into the night sky. Rankin delivers another short ball and this time Naib is ready for it. As soon as the ball reaches in his half, Naib dismisses it over mid-wicket for a maximum.
  • 40.4
    2
    B Rankin to G Naib, Digs in a short ball outside off, Naib is early into his pull shot this time. It goes off the bottom edge and sneaks past mid off for a couple.
  • 40.3
    0
    B Rankin to G Naib, The batsman defends it from within the crease.
  • 40.2
    0
    B Rankin to G Naib, Dropped by Dockrell! Short in length on off, Naib plays a crunching pull shot and it goes quickly to Dockrell at short mid-wicket. He fails to hold on and gives a life to Naib.
  • 40.1
    4
    B Rankin to G Naib, FOUR! Neat and tidy! Too full in length on off, Naib climbs onto it and with mid on up inside the circle, he just lofts it over the infield for a boundary.
  • END OF OVER 40 | 2 Runs & 0 Wkt | AFG 136/4
  • 26 more needed as we enter into Powerplay 3. Five fielders allowed outside the ring now. Don't think Ireland will opt for that...
  • 39.6
    1
    G Dockrell to G Naib, Presses forward to a full ball and bunts it through mid off for a run.
  • 39.5
    0
    G Dockrell to G Naib, Naib has defended it by getting right behind the line of the delivery.
  • 39.4
    0
    G Dockrell to G Naib, Full and flighted on off, defended off the front foot to the off side.
  • 39.3
    0
    G Dockrell to G Naib, Strides forward to a full ball and blocks it watchfully.