Ireland will eye to secure the five-match T20 International series against Afghanistan with a victory in the next match. On the other side, the visitors are all set to level the series as they did significantly well in the last match. The fourth T20I will be held tomorrow at the Civil Service Cricket Club in Belfast at 8:00 PM IST. It will be an exciting clash to watch as a series win will be a huge confidence booster for any of them ahead of the T20 World Cup which is just a couple of months away. The Andrew Balbirnie-led side endured defeats in the previous home series against India, New Zealand and South Africa respectively while Afghanistan had demolished Zimbabwe in their last series.
Afghanistan had completely outplayed the hosts in the third T20I. Despite losing the toss, they read the situation well and focused on their task. Riding on the knocks of openers Hazratullah Zazai and Rahamanullah Gurbaz, they got off to a fine start. While Rahamanullah Gurbaz smashed 53 runs off 35 balls, Hazratullah added 39 runs to the board. Ibrahim Zadran (36 off 22 balls) and Najibullah Zadran (42 off 18 balls) concluded the innings well and helped the side reach 189 runs in 20 overs. Among Irish bowlers, seamer Joshua Little only made a notable contribution by picking up a couple of wickets.
In reply, the Afghan pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi scalped two early wickets by sending off both the Ireland opening batters. Wicketkeeper-batter Lorcan Tucker tried to reignite their hope but headed back after scoring 31. Among the rest, George Dockrell looked comfortable and remained unbeaten at 58. Fionn Hand tried to put some pressure with a decorated 18-ball 36 but fell victim to Naveen-ul-Haq who got three wickets to his name. The Ireland innings wrapped up for 167 runs.
Ireland vs Afghanistan Dream 11 Prediction:
Captain: Rahmanullah Gurbaz
Vice-captain: Fionn Hand
Suggested Playing XI for Ireland vs Afghanistan 3rd T20 International Dream11 Fantasy Cricket:
Batter: Paul Stirling, Andrew Balbirnie, Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran
Wicket-keeper: Rahmanullah Gurbaz
All-rounders: Najibullah Zadran, Fionn Hand
Bowlers: Joshua Little, Mark Adair, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq
Possible Playing 11s:
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.
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