Toss report: Afghanistan will hope to bounce back from consecutive defeats and keep their series hopes alive in the third T20I against Ireland in Belfast on Friday.
The hosts won the toss, and skipper Andy Balbirnie invited the Afghans to bat, with the side high on confidence and eyeing a series-clinching win after securing comfortable victories in the first two matches of the series.
Both teams made changes to their lineups — Ireland handed debuts to Graham Hume and Fionn Hand, while the visitors decided to bring Hazratullah Zazai into the XI in place of Hashmatullah Shahidi.
Earlier on Thursday, Afghanistan won the toss and struggled with the bat as Ireland bowlers Josh Little, Mark Adair, Curtis Campher and Gareth Delany took two wickets apiece.
The tourists reached 122 for eight from their 20 overs. Shahidi top-scored with 36 from 42 balls.
Ireland lost opener Paul Stirling (4) in the third over with only seven runs on the board, but captain Balbirnie and Lorcan Tucker shared 65 for the second wicket, with Balbirnie making 46 from 36 balls and Tucker 27 from 28.
Mohammad Nabi took two for 15 for Afghanistan, but George Dockrell’s unbeaten 25 helped Ireland reach its target with an over to spare.
Teams :
Ireland: Paul Stirling, Andrew Balbirnie(c), Lorcan Tucker(wk), Harry Tector, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Curtis Campher, Fionn Hand, Mark Adair, Graham Hume, Joshua Little.
Afghanistan: Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz(wk), Usman Ghani, Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi(c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
With inputs from AP
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