Ireland established a 1-0 series lead against Afghanistan as Harry Tector hit an unbeaten half-century while Ben White and Josh Little shone for the visitors with the ball.
Ireland won by 38 runs in the opening T20 International of their three-match series against Afghanistan on Friday in Sharjah.Ireland established a 1-0 series lead against Afghanistan as Harry Tector hit an unbeaten half-century while Ben White and Josh Little shone for the visitors with the ball.
Afghanistan needed to win by 150 runs, but they had a terrible start when Mark Adair got Rahmanullah Gurbaz with the opening ball of the innings. After Little had him catch Tector for one, Gurbaz’s opening partner, Sediqullah Atal, quickly joined him.
The Irish left-armer then gave Azmatullah Omarzai the first ball of the innings, giving him a chance to go for a hat-trick in just the second over.
The highest scorer Mohammad Ishaq for 32, Mohammad Nabi, Ijaz Ahmad Ahmadzai, and Nangeyalia Kharote were all removed by White, who finished with figures of 4-20 after taking control of the attack.
Naveen-ul-Haq put up a fight, hitting a strike of 13 off 15 balls, but in 18.4 overs, Afghanistan was all out for 111, leaving the tail with too much work to do.
Earlier, Rashid Khan, the captain of Afghanistan on his way back, won the toss and put Ireland into bat.
After hitting seven fours and two sixes in his undefeated 56 off 34 balls, Harry Tector led Ireland to 149-6.
The tourists got off to a strong start with Stirling and Andy Balbirnie, who put up a first-wicket stand of 38 before Balbirnie was dismissed by Omarzai on 22.
Following a layoff due to injury, Khan emerged as the most effective bowler with statistics of 3-19. In the 11th over, he grabbed his maiden wicket in Ireland opener Stirling for 25.
In the 17th over, the leg spinner destroyed Gareth Delany’s budding partnership with Tector after promptly getting the dangerous Curtis Campher for a golden duck.
Until Delany and Adair arrived at the crease, Tector fought valiantly in the middle but was unable to form a meaningful relationship with those around him.
After putting on stands of 35 with Delany and an unbeaten 42 with Adair, the right-hander gave Afghanistan a target of 150, which the hosts were eventually unable to reach.
After Ireland won the first Test match on March 1, the visit was already deemed successful. Now, if the tourists win the second match in the T20I series on Sunday in Sharjah, the series will be completed.
