IRE VS AFG - 1st T20I, Afghanistan tour of Ireland, 2022

And that concludes the presentation. A day to celebrate for Ireland after they have been on the wrong end of the results for the better part of their summer. We'll be back for the second T20I now on Thursday. See you then, it's a wrap for now!

Mohammad Nabi, Afghanistan captain : This is the first game we played as a team in about 1 month, it was quite a good game but we were about 15-20 runs short. Usman played really well, he's been doing well in the domestice cricket. We need to work on our line and length, first 6 overs we were a bit off.

Andy Balbarnie, Ireland captain and Man of the Match : Lot more fun to score runs and get a win. We have been hurting not getting over the line against a few great teams, but today feels good. I thought we bowled pretty well, and chased smartly. Lorcan Tucker played a brilliant knock - a bit of a complete chase. We managed to get a solid platform today, and the threat of spin was navigated well. It is great to have so many bowling options, everyone is doing their role with the ball. We knew we could chase this, our bowlers bowled to the plans.

18:56 Local Time, 17:56 GMT, 23:26 IST: Finally the T20I vodoo has been broken for the Irish. They were narrowly edged out by India, then gave a serious fight to New Zealand and South Africa in their past few home games. Now, after 7 successive home defeats, the luck of the Irish has finally shined through as they get Afghanistan in a last over thriller to take a 1-0 series lead. It was a challenging target, but skipper Balbarnie and Tucker got fifties, that were sandwitched between characteristic cameos from Stirling and Tector, as Ireland chased down 168 with a ball to spare. For Afghanistan, they have to look back at how they lost too many wickets in the middle overs, and how their fielding let them down as they ended on the wrong side of the result. Stick around for the presentations...

Naveen-ul-Haq to Dockrell, FOUR, finally a T20I home win for Ireland for the season! Length ball hitting the deck hard, Dockrell slaps this perfeclty between deep mid-wicket and long-on. Runs away to the fence and the hosts rejoice. A game that went down to the wire but Ireland had enough gas in the tank to chase this down...

Naveen-ul-Haq to Dockrell, FOUR, the luck of the Irish! slower length delivery on off, driven powerfully down the ground. The fielder from long-on stopped with a dive but his parry takes it to the boundary at long-off. Unlucky but Ireland in the driver's seat now!

Naveen-ul-Haq to Harry Tector, 1 run, superb yorker chasing Tector who shuffles away, the batter just about digs this towards square leg. 6 needed off 3 now

Naveen-ul-Haq to Harry Tector, FOUR, wow, what a shot under pressure! Slower delivery that was pitched up around off, Tector shuffles away and drives this over extra cover for a boundary. Big shot in the dying moments off the game!

A bit of a break as both bowler and batter are having the physio out looking at something. We are all good and ready to continue

Naveen-ul-Haq to Harry Tector, 2 runs, length ball on middle and leg, Tector cleared his front leg for a big swing. The bat turns in his hands as the ball goes tamely towards deep mid-wicket. Couple of runs taken as Ireland hurried for the second, with Tector injuring his wrist maybe trying to complete that.

needed off the final 6 now. Ireland have been in this position a few times and have messed things up. Let's see how they deal with it today

Fazalhaq Farooqi to Harry Tector, 1 run, lovely yorker on off, Tector shuffles closer and has to dig this one out to long-off. He will retain strike as there is work to be done in this final over now.

Fazalhaq Farooqi to Dockrell, 1 run, pitched up around off, in the arc for Dockrell but he can only drive powerfully straight to long-off

Fazalhaq Farooqi to Dockrell, no run, fuller length and just outside off, Dockrell swings and misses

Fazalhaq Farooqi to Harry Tector, 1 run, wide yorker by Farooqi, Tector drives to deep extra cover, just a single!

Fazalhaq Farooqi to Harry Tector, SIX, slower length ball on middle and off, Tector stays back in the crease and swings this one over cow corner for a maximum. This is the shorter side of the field now, and the muscular Tector clears the ground with ease! That shot could tilt the game in the favour of the hosts

Fazalhaq Farooqi to Dockrell, 1 run, slower pitched up delivery on off, Dockrell drives to long-off

Naveen-ul-Haq to Tucker, out Caught by Rashid Khan!! It was in the slot around off, Tucker shuffled and gave it a big heave towards the longer boundary on the leg side, holes out to Rashid Khan who takes a steady catch at deep mid-wicket. Could be a crucial wicket for the visitors! 23 needed off 12 now Tucker c Rashid Khan b Naveen-ul-Haq 50(32) [4s-6 6s-1]

Naveen-ul-Haq to Tucker, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

Naveen-ul-Haq to Harry Tector, 1 run, pitched up on the pads, clipped straight to the short fine fielder. Tector isn't happy he only got a single off that!