Watch cricket video highlights between Afghanistan vs Ireland 3rd Twenty/20 international, played at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Naveen-ul-Haq saw lots of activity in the field, Azmatullah Omarzai grabbed more wickets than he has scored in the whole series, and Ibrahim Zadran hammered an undefeated 72, his biggest T20I total. Afghanistan overcame a 1-0 deficit to win the series 2-1 after defeating Ireland by 57 runs in the third Twenty20 International.
Afghanistan reached 155 after Ibrahim’s sixth T20I half-century, and Ireland’s pursuit was never resumed. In the third over, they were reduced to 15 for 3 thanks to two strikes from Naveen and one from Fazalhaq Farooqi. Harry Tector and Curtis Campher added 24 to give it a little respite, but that was all. After countering from 46 for 5, Campher and Gareth Delany gave Ireland some hope, but they lost 5 for 16 in a lower-order collapse, with Omarzai scoring a career-high 4 for 9 and Naveen finishing with 3 for 10.
In the sixth over, Delany dropped an easy catch off Campher while Ibrahim was on 10. Keeping his eyes on the skier, he didn’t go forward as far as he should have because he was positioned at deep square leg.
Delany gave Sediqullah Atal an additional run when he entered the field to bowl the seventh over because he was unable to receive a throw from short third. Delany turned and ran forward from point off Campher again in the next over, but missed a tough catch on Omarzai. However, Omarzai dropped for 3 balls after that on 1 at that moment. Then, in the ninth over, Delany misfielded once more.
Like in the first Twenty20 International, Ireland was met with further misfortune, as if that wasn’t enough. In the 13th over, Ben White had Mohammad Ishaq caught at deep midwicket, but the umpire declared it a no-ball, despite the fact that replays showed the heel—the initial point of impact—had landed just outside the line. Ishaq was on 15 at the time and went on to score 27, however in the 15th over, he was caught by Paul Stirling after a brilliant catch off White.
Ibrahim’s T20I strike rate was barely around 105 going into this match. However, he scored his runs at 141 on Monday night. Before getting dropped, he had made just 12 off his opening 13 balls and had struck just one four in a calm start. But he broke 60 with his following 38 deliveries.
During the 54-run fourth-wicket partnership with Ishaq, Ibrahim continued to hit singles and twos in addition to the odd boundaries. After creating room, he pulled and slog swept off White and pounded Josh Little to more cover. However, Ibrahim saved two elegant blows for Mark Adair, who in the eighteenth over scooped over short fine for four and swatted wide over long-off for six.
Naveen’s first ball, bowling in the second over, had a lot of seam movement and additional bounce. The ball struck the top of Andy Balbirnie’s leg stump after landing on a decent length on the sixth stump. His subsequent delivery was a perfect swing, bowling Lorcan Tucker for a golden duck. As expected, Naveen dismissed White with a slower ball to bring Ireland’s innings to a close at 98 runs.
Omarzai finished the series with just three runs after being out of the game in the first few balls. However, he started using the ball. Taking a swing at Tector, he trapped the batsman at deep midwicket in the ninth over, preventing Ireland from attempting a comeback. After noticing that George Dockrell’s front leg was out of the way in the tenth over, Omarzai followed him by angling one in. Naveen grabbed his second catch at deep midwicket, which Dockrell eventually found.
In the 16th over, with the game all but gone, Omarzai had Adair chopping on before grabbing a return catch off Barry McCarthy. Adair pulled early because to the sluggish pitch, but Omarzai recognized McCarthy was skipping down and moved short to give him space. With a simple take to his left, he claimed four wickets, giving Afghanistan the victory.
