Afghanistan won by 6 wkts
PLAYER OF THE MATCH : Samiullah Shinwari
Batter
Bowler
That's all from us for this game. The second T20I of the 3-match series is gonna be very crucial for both the sides. Can Ireland come back strongly? Or will Afghanistan continue to dominate? We will have all the answers on Friday, the 10th of March. Do remember to join us then. Goodbye people, drive safe!!
Stanikzai: I think on this sort of wicket, batting first or bowling first doesn't matter. We always thought the target was chaseable. First game of a series is always important and starting with a win is very crucial. I'm happy with the win.
Porterfield: We could have bowled a lot better, could have got 30 more runs. But, I think our bowling let us down. Could have bowled a lot better. There were a couple of overs during our batting where we didn't execute our plans. There are still 2 more games to come, we will bounce back strongly.
Samiullah Shenwari, Man of the Match: It was from the captain and coach who told me to go and play my natural game. I'm very happy that I delivered. The boys are training hard and the result today showed that.
The only phase where Ireland dictated terms was the first 10 overs of the game. What followed was quite embarrassing. They had fallen off the cliff and posted a total that came nowhere near challenging for a star-studded Afghanistan batting line-up. Shahzad and Tarakai blazed off to a 50-run opening stand inside 5 overs which set the tone for the walk-in-the-park chase. Samiullah Shenwari played an absolute blinder ably assisted by some mediocre bowling and fielding. They threw a couple of wickets towards the end trying to go for glory shots, but that didn't choke them much as much as it did against Zimbabwe a few weeks ago...
END OF OVER 18
9 Runs
AFG: 171 - 4
0 1 1 1 W 6
Stanikzai
20 (13)
Shafiqullah
6 (1)
Craig Young
3-0-30-1
Young to Shafiqullah, SIX, spank! What swagger. Just walks out and smashes a length ball for a maximum over long-on. Afghanistan win comfortably and lead the 3-match series 1-0.
Shafiqullah Shafiq, right handed bat, comes to the crease
Young to Nabi, out Caught by Dockrell!! Another batsman departs trying to finish formalities in style. Goes for the glory shot - a whack across the line against a length ball, mistimes and hits it straight to Dockrell at mid-wicket. Nabi c Dockrell b Young 1(2)
Young to Nabi, THATS OUT!! Caught!!
Young to Stanikzai, 1 run, driven down the ground towards long-on for an easy single
Young to Nabi, 1 run, drags the pull through square leg
Young to Stanikzai, 1 run, mistimes the pull, will only get a single behind square
Young to Stanikzai, no run, length ball on the stumps , a swing and a miss
Craig Young [2.0-0-21-0] is back into the attack
END OF OVER 17
3 Runs
AFG: 162 - 3
L1 1 0 W 0 1
Stanikzai
18 (10)
Nabi
0 (0)
S Thompson
3-0-17-1
S Thompson to Stanikzai, 1 run, cut away square on the off-side
S Thompson to Stanikzai, no run, played down the ground
Mohammad Nabi, right handed bat, comes to the crease
S Thompson to Shenwari, out Caught by Dockrell!! Fantastic effort from Dockrell at long-on. Shenwari wanted to finish it off in style and chipped the loft over mid-on, Dockrell backpedals and plucks it out of the air, but as the momentum was taking him past the boundary ropes, he threw the ball into the air before gathering it safely. Shenwari c Dockrell b S Thompson 56(36) [4s-6 6s-3]
S Thompson to Shenwari, THATS OUT!! Caught!!
S Thompson to Shenwari, no run, defended to the left of the bowler