The opening T20I between Afghanistan and Ireland turned out to be an exciting one. Both teams fought tooth and nail, and threw punches at each other in Greater Noida, but eventually, the hosts won by 11 runs (DLS Method) to take a 1-0 lead in the series. The pitch was an excellent for batting, but it was Rashid Khan’s spell of 4-0-22-0 that played a big part in deciding the result of the game.

Stirling top scores for Ireland

Ireland got off to a thunderous start after electing to bat first. Their openers , Paul Stirling (60) and Kevin O’Brien stitched together a 63-run stand in the powerplay. In the last ball of the field restrictions, Mujeeb Ur Rahman castled O’Brien to break the stand. Andrew Balbirnie didn’t throw the kitchen sink at everything, but got a 28-ball 29 in a crucial 48-run partnership with Stirling.

Rashid Khan removed Stirling to take the sting out of the Irish innings and in his very next over, accounted for Balbirnie’s wicket. In the last 46 balls, the visitors could only manage 61 runs. In the end, it was Harry Tector’s 17-ball 29 that got Ireland to a competitive 172 for the loss of six wickets in 20 overs. Rashid also nipped out Lorcan Tucker. The pacers couldn’t make much of an impact.

Ireland stumbles

In their run-chase, the Afghans got off to a blistering start. Hazratullah Zazai (23) and the young Rahmanullah Gurbaz (28) put on 54 for the opening wicket in 27 balls. Simi Singh got rid of Gurbaz to give Ireland some breather. In the same over, Singh pinned Zazai as well. Singh didn’t stop there and ran Asghar Afghan out. From 54/0, the home team was reduced to 55/3 in a space of six balls.

Karim Janat had a painful stint in the middle as he could only manage six runs from 12 balls before being run out. However, Samiullah Shinwari (28) and Najibullah Zadran (42) got the innings going. Najibullah was the more attacking of the two, playing at a strike-rate of 200. But then, rain arrived leaving the Afghans above the par score. In the end, the game didn’t start and Ireland missed out.

Here’s how Twitterati reacted on Afghanistan’s victory: –

Afghanistan beat Ireland by 11 runs according to DL method, thanks to Najibullah Zadran's quick fire 42* runs from 21 balls under pressure. #AFGvIRE

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) March 6, 2020

Googly master #Rashidkhan again played really well 👏👏🏏
Also well done @stirlo90 🏏#AFGvIRE

— Khpalwak Dareez 🇦🇫 (@KDareez90) March 6, 2020

@rashidkhan_19's 3-wicket haul against Ireland today takes him to Top-5 category of Highest wicket-takers in T20i.
🔥
His tally of 87 T20i wickets is 4th most by any player.#IREvAFG
🙌🏏

— SreejithNair (@sree_state_stat) March 6, 2020

The Afghanistan bowling was expensive to begin with but they did well to in the middle overs. Rashid Khan, once he came on, got crucial wickets and also kept a check on the run-flow. He was the pick of the bowlers. Zadran also finished strongly. #AFGvIRE

— Wesley00005 (@Wesley000051) March 6, 2020

Dear @ACBofficials

Can we borrow @rashidkhan_19 when we bowl please?

Yours sincerely
Lawrence Q. Leprechaun#AFGvIRE

— Larry Leprechaun (@LarryLeprechau) March 6, 2020

The rain is just far too heavy, so Afghanistan win the first T20 by 11 runs on DLS. #AFGvIRE

— justin smyth (@justinsmyth1) March 6, 2020

Well Done @rashidkhan_19 👏💪❤🇦🇫

— Rizwan Khan (@Rizwank73800701) March 6, 2020

one man army @rashidkhan_19

— goher Afghan (@goheralihamdard) March 6, 2020

Brilliant performances boys & finally victory for @ACBofficials 1.0 @rashidkhan_19 @iamnajibzadran https://t.co/z7f2tWvSwD

— Munir Ahmad Kakar (@munirkakar_27) March 6, 2020

Congratulations #AfghanAtalan🇦🇫 first T20 win #AFGvIRE 👏 Brilliant Bowling @rashidkhan_19👏💪👍 well played @iamnajibzadran 👏

— Rizwan Khan (@Rizwank73800701) March 6, 2020

Afghanistan beat Ireland by 11 runs in 1st T20 at Greater Noida#AFGvIRE

— Ali Raza (@AliRazaTweets) March 6, 2020

#Afghanistan beat #Ireland again in the first #t20 of the 3 t20 series and take the lead 1_0 ..
Good all-round performance by #Afghan_Atalan ..
Congratulations to everyone. #AFGvIRE

— Tariq sanger (@Tariqsanger1) March 6, 2020