fbpx
cricket ireland logo
cricket ireland logo

News

Nabi breaks Irish hearts as record partnerships tumble

Back
Back

DEHRADUN – Afghanistan defeated Ireland by five wickets in the first T20I in Dehradun in a thrilling match defined by two record-breaking mid-to-lower-order recoveries.
In the first innings, an undefeated 67-run seventh-wicket stand between George Dockrell and Stuart Poynter propelled Ireland to 132-6 against a mighty spin arsenal led by the world’s highest-ranked T20I bowler, Rashid Khan, who tucked into two wickets in his first over.

But it was the experienced all-rounder Mohammad Nabi who was the standout performer; after conceding just 16 runs from his four overs in the first innings, the 34-year-old hit an unbeaten 40-ball 49 and combined brilliantly with Najibullah Zadran to break Irish hearts – and Afghanistan’s record for the highest sixth-wicket partnership – in the second.

The visitors won the toss and elected to bat, as Afghanistan managed to tame a powerful opening partnership in Kevin O’Brien and skipper Paul Stirling – Ireland’s two highest run-scorers in their recent T20I series in Oman – with just 11 runs conceded from the first three overs. The innings soon had lift-off when Stirling bludgeoned a few commanding drives to double Ireland’s score in the fourth.

Teenage sensation Mujeeb Ur Rahman removed O’Brien, who holed out to Nabi at long-on, before Karim Janat trapped Andrew Balbirnie leg before wicket. Nabi claimed the big scalp of Stirling (23), with Najibullah Zadran clinging on at deep-midwicket, as Ireland fell to 39-3. Simi Singh was soon stumped, with the economical Nabi (2-16 from four overs) claiming his second.

Kevin O'Brien
Image: Kevin O’Brien was caught on long-on

Stuart Thompson twice found the off-side boundary, but Afghanistan still had an ace up their sleeve in the world-class Rashid, who removed Thompson (18) and Shane Getkate in his first over to make it 65-6.

All-rounder Dockrell (34* from 28 ball) and keeper-batsman Poynter (31* from 28) carried Ireland to a respectable 132-6, with Afghanistan’s twirlers Mujeeb, Rashid and Nabi – who picked up 14 wickets between them in Dehradun in Afghanistan’s last series against Bangladesh – keeping a lid on the scoring rate. Dockrell helped himself to a career-best score during Ireland’s record seventh-wicket stand, also their best for the fifth wicket or lower.

Afghanistan made a lively start to their innings, with 16 runs scored off the first over, including a six from Hazratullah Zazai, whose top-edged pull just evaded the fielder at deep square-leg. Ireland were boosted when Asghar Afghan picked out Getkate off the bowling of Peter Chase, whose nine-ball over proved fruitful for the visitors, comprising just four runs and one wicket.

Despite spilling a catch, Rankin made amends with the wickets of Zazai and Janat. After that first-over blitz, Ireland had replied with three wickets for 14 runs off the next three. At 30-3, it was very much game on.

The experienced hands off O’Brien claimed a low-catch to dismiss Samiullah Shinwari off the bowling of Josh Little. Bowler then turned ‘grabber’ when Little took a tidy catch at third man to remove Sharafuddin Ashraf, and at 50-5, two balls into the eighth over, Ireland was seemingly in the box seat.

At the 10-over mark, Afghanistan’s target rate had crept over seven. Simi Singh offered the first glimpse of Irish spin when he had to complete Thompson’s over, who limped off with an apparent hamstring injury.

Josh Little
Image: Josh Little again bowled with variation to contain the scoring

No boundaries were recorded between the fifth and 13th over, but when Ireland finally brought on a spinner to start an over, in Dockrell, Najibullah Zadran rocked back and cut for four before Nabi’s powerful pull in the 14th.

Some quick running stole eight off the 15th over – Afghanistan’s best since the fifth of the innings – but it was the 16th when the tide started to turn, with a four and six from Zadran (40 from 36). The rate dipped under a run a ball, and Ireland desperately needed a wicket.

With nine runs required off the final two overs, the task became a tall one for Ireland, who slipped to their eight successive defeat against Afghanistan in T20Is.

Ireland captain Paul Stirling speaking after the game said regarding choosing to bat first:

“It was a tough call to start with – we didn’t know if the dew was going to come down, and we won our last game batting second. But we thought Afghanistan usually don’t like to chase, so that was at the forefront of my mind. If we could have made a good score of 150-160 then I thought that could be defendable, and I think that proved right in that we got them where we did in the second innings at 5 down for about 50 so. If we had 20-30 more runs on the board, and had them in the same situation, I think we would have been in the front seat.”

About George Dockrell and Stuart Poynter’s partnership, he said:

“They were the ones that set up the whole total in the first place. They still played with that sort of attacking intent even though we were five down, which was great to see. We could have lost two wickets there and been bowled out for less than 100, so the fact they gave us a fighting chance was great to see.”

About Ireland’s bowling tactics, he said:

“The trend for our T20 side in the past has been going the distance in the powerplay and then dragging it back, so we’re trying to tighten up in the first six, and also we need to maintain what we’ve had in the middle. In the past that has happened through grinding it out with spin bowling in the middle overs, but I think in this instance seam is the way to go, and we did the same job which was great to see as well.”

About the positives to take forward into the rest of the series, he said:

“From my point of view the positive intent we showed even against Rashid, we were very intent on sweeping him, I don’t mind seeing that. He got a couple of wickets but the lads were prepared to play shots, so from my point of view I don’t mind that. It was great to see us getting wickets up front, always helps in T20, and if you don’t manage to do that you’re always in for a tough time. So those would be the two for me. Hopefully, going forward, we can be better in the first ten overs of our innings and the second ten overs of theirs.”

SCORECARD IN BRIEF

Afghanistan v Ireland, T20 International, 21 February 2019, Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Dehradun

Ireland 132-6 (20 overs; G Dockrell 34*, S Poynter 31*; M Nabi 2-16, R Khan 2-21)
Afghanistan 136-5 (19.2 overs; M Nabi 49*, N Zadran 40*; B Rankin 2-39)

Afghanistan won by 5 wickets

A full scorecard is available here.

Tour schedule (upcoming matches)

• 23 February: Afghanistan v Ireland – 2nd T20I – start time of 6.30pm (local time) or 1pm (GMT)
• 24 February: Afghanistan v Ireland – 3rd T20I – start time of 6.30pm (local time) or 1pm (GMT)
• 28 February: Afghanistan v Ireland – 1st ODI – start time of 2.30pm (local time) or 9am (GMT)
• 2 March: Afghanistan v Ireland – 2nd ODI – start time of 2.30pm (local time) or 9am (GMT)
• 5 March: Afghanistan v Ireland – 3rd ODI – start time of 2.30pm (local time) or 9am (GMT)
• 8 March: Afghanistan v Ireland – 4th ODI – start time of 2.30pm (local time) or 9am (GMT)
• 10 March: Afghanistan v Ireland – 5th ODI – start time of 2.30pm (local time) or 9am (GMT)
• 15–19 March: Afghanistan v Ireland – Test Match – start time of 10am (local time) or 4.30am (GMT)

_DSC1932.JPG
Rich Evans, Wisden
Afghanistan go one-up in the three match series
No
Connaught

LATEST NEWS

Details