AFG VS IRE - 2nd T20I, Afghanistan v Ireland in India, 2019

A busy day for history scribblers. Sri Lanka a few hours ago and Afghanistan now. Their rise in international cricket is no longer a coffee-time chitter-chatter. A quite resounding statement today with World Cup fast approaching. Tomorrow will see the conclusion of this T20I series. Do remember to tune in for that. Until next time, goodbye and good night from Raju Peethala, Abhinand Raghavendran and Venkatesh AV.

Records broken:
Highest total in T20s - 278/3
Highest partnership for any wicket - 236 between Zazai & Ghani
Most sixes by a team in a T20I - 22
Most sixes by a player in a T20I - 16 by Zazai
Second highest individual score in T20Is - Zazai (162*)
Third highest match aggregate in a T20I - 472 - Afg (278) & Ire (194)

Ashghar Afghan, winning skipper: Good for us that we won the series. We will see if we need to give chances to others in the next game. The performance in the top order in the previous game wasn't great and today was a good day for us. Our top-order did the job and that's what we expect as a team.

Hazratullah Zazai, Man of the Match: Tried to play the natural game and thankfully today was my day. The wicket was good for batting and the bowlers couldn't really get as much help. As I said before, today was my day and I'm happy for that.

Paul Stirling,losing skipper: Obviously it's a tough task and when Rashid's bowling in the final few overs it is always difficult. Hopefully we will come back strong tomorrow. 220 would have been chaseable I guess.

22:02 local: If there's one place where bowlers wouldn't want to be on planet earth today, it's gotta be Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Dehradun. 472 runs off 40 overs. That's madness! After a slow-low track in the first game, the curator seemed to have dished out a batting paradise for today's game and the scorecard bore the brunt of it. It's bleeding with fours and sixes. Hazratullah Zazai's 62-ball 162 took Afghanistan to the highest ever total in a T20 game and chasing history, Ireland put in a decent fight until the halfway stage. They were in fact slightly ahead (in terms of run rate) around the 7th over, but there was a sense that one wicket could mess everything up and mess up royally they did. Stirling's highest score in T20Is (91) could only compensate as much. Phewf! What.A.Game.

Karim Janat to Simi Singh, no run, tries a fancy paddle and could only wear it on the pads. All over! Afghanistan win by 84 runs and seal the series with a game to go.

Karim Janat to Stuart Poynter, 1 run, 129ks full outside off, Poynter drags the flat-bat drive to the right of the bowler

Karim Janat to Stuart Poynter, FOUR, uses Karim Janat's pace - although there's none on it - and opens the bat face to guide it fine past the keeper for a boundary

Karim Janat to Stuart Poynter, SIX, too full outside off, Poynter goes deep inside the crease and powers it over extra cover for a mighty maximum

Karim Janat to Simi Singh, 1 run, dug in short at the body, Simi Singh swivels and splices the pull to the left of the keeper

Karim Janat to Stuart Poynter, 1 run, stays legside of the length ball and cuts it straight to sweeper cover

Karim Janat [3.0-0-17-0] is back into the attack

Afghanistan after 19 overs - 261/2

Nabi to Simi Singh, no run, very full outside off, drilled to the left of the bowler

Nabi to Stuart Poynter, 1 run, yorker length outside off, squeezed away through extra cover for a single

Nabi to Simi Singh, 1 run, full on off, Simi Singh biffs the drive to long-on

Nabi to Simi Singh, SIX, short outside off, Simi Singh muscles the pull over mid-wicket for a huge maximum

Nabi to Stuart Poynter, 1 run, inside-edges the pull onto pad and it rolls away to backward point

Nabi to Simi Singh, 1 run, flat outside off, Simi Singh punches it through mid-wicket with a swivel off the back foot