AFG VS IRE - 1st T20I, Afghanistan v Ireland in India, 2019

That's it then, from Dehradun. A win that displayed great character from the Afghan middle-order, and carried them home despite a few early jitters, and the middle portion of the match (last 10 of the first innings and the first 10 of the second) heavily dominated by Ireland. With that, it's Rishi Roy, Sriram AS and Raju Peethala bidding you goodbye!

Asghar Afghan, Afghanistan captain: In every series the first game is very important. In the top-order, we played some poor shots, but the middle-order was impressive today and didn't disappoint, so I am happy with Najib and Nabi. We hope the guys get some good exposure, especially the young guys, so that they are ready for the World Cup.

Mohammad Nabi, Man of the Match: I was under some pressure at 50/5, so it was important to take singles and doubles, so we had to soak the pressure. We thought if we take 4-5 per over, it will be easier to hit at the end. I have worked on the arm ball, and of course we have to adjust when there isn't a lot of turn on these kind of green pitches, and I have enough experience to do that.

Paul Stirling, Ireland Captain: We didn't quite get enough in the powerplay. They bowled quite well. Credit to the bowlers, they pulled things back really well, but unfortunately we couldn't get that extra wicket at the right time. Thompson is okay, just a bit of compression and ice needed and he should be good to go.

21:48 Local Time: A fantastic start provided by the Afghan bowlers, which had the Irish down and out at 74/6. However, the partnership that followed, between Poynter and Dockrell, certainly helped Ireland put up a competitive total on the board. After an explosive start in response, thanks to Zazai and Asghar, Afghanistan had a bit of a mini-collapse and were staring down the barrel at 50/5 with the Ireland pacers dictating terms at that time. However, Nabi and Najib, the pragmatic duo, just rotated the strike and turned it up at the end to ensure that Afghanistan cruised to a win...

Chase to Nabi, FOUR, low full-toss, Nabi gets under this one and lofts it high into the night sky, and it lands just short of the rope and trickles away towards the straight boundary to seal Ireland's fate. It's 1-0 to Afghanistan...

Chase to Nabi, no run, yorker length delivery just outside off, Nabi tries drilling it down the ground, gets a thick inside edge onto the pads and towards the off-side, and they can't quite take the winning single

Peter Chase [3.0-0-23-1] is back into the attack

Rankin to Nabi, 1 run, full and wide, Nabi tries reaching out and carting it away over cover, gets a thick under-edge to the 'keeper's left for a single - scores level

Rankin to Nabi, no run, short ball, perhaps just about head-high, Nabi misses with the hook, and that's not called a wide

Rankin to Nabi, SIX, half-volley outside off, Nabi clears his front-leg and rocks back to scoop this over deep extra cover for six. Loads of bottom-hand in that one

Rankin to Nabi, no run, yorker length delivery just outside off, drilled back to the bowler's who almost deflects it to the umpire

Rankin to Nabi, no run, yorker length delivery outside off, Nabi stays low and tries squeezing it away through point, gets a thick under-edge towards the 'keeper's right

Rankin to Najibullah, 1 run, on the hip, tucked to fine leg, single

Joshua Little to Nabi, no run, back of a length delivery on the stumps, Nabi backs away and pushes it away towards mid-off

Joshua Little to Najibullah, 1 run, skids through from a back of a length, slogged away off a thick under-edge to deep mid-wicket for a single

Joshua Little to Nabi, 1 run, half-volley outside off, caressed, well-timed drive down to long-off for a single

Joshua Little to Najibullah, 1 run, back of a length delivery gripping in the surface, Najibullah is early on the on-the-up flick, gets a leading edge which is in the air for a moment, but goes past the in-field towards sweeper cover for a single

Joshua Little to Najibullah, FOUR, length ball angling in, Najibullah backs away and plays the pick-up, splits deep square leg and cow corner perfectly and gets a boundary for his nation

Joshua Little to Najibullah, no run, skids through low, Najibullah jack-knifes low to get bat on ball, and it sneaks through