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Afghanistan to ‘sort out’ batting, fielding lineup ahead of first World Cup match

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(Last Updated On: October 20, 2021)

Afghanistan is set to face West Indies in its 2nd warmup match prior to the start of their first match in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 on October 25.

The warm up match is set to be played in ICCA Oval 1, Dubai on Wednesday evening.

Afghanistan lost its first warmup match to South Africa as they were reduced to only 104/8 in their 20 overs and lost the match by 41 runs. Although Afghanistan’s bowling attack started well, with Nabi and Mujeeb turning things around, the South African batsmen targeted Afghanistan’s bowlers which caused to them to lose at least 30 runs.

The batters were also restricted and felt the heat as the South Africans ended up controlling the match.

The Afghan team has high hopes of defeating the Windies on Wednesday in what they hope will be a confidence booster before embarking on their official journey at the World Cup.

Afghanistan will look to strengthen their batting by sorting out the batting order. Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Mohammad Shahzad and Hazratullah Zazai are the men who have had some impressive performances over the last two years for the national team and in franchise cricket.

If Afghanistan are to prove on their batting, they will need two of these batters to do well and at least one other batter to support them.

A middle order which includes captain Mohammad Nabi, Najeebullah Zadran and Asghar Afghan will also try to post a big score.

In the bowling department, Mohammad Nabi will look to bowl Rashid Khan Wednesday to observe where and how to utilize him at the main event; while Rashid will need to assess the conditions and prepare himself for the next event.

Hamid Hassan however did not complete his full quota and injured his finger, but will be looking to bowl some overs and mark his presence before their first official match.

Mohammad Nabi will also be looking to test the medium pace of Karim Jannat in the middle overs as an additional seam bowling option in the line-up, while Fareed or Gulbadin Naib will also be kept in check to test their medium fast bowling abilities before going to the first match against B1 on Oct 25.
Said Rahman Ahmadzai, fielding coach of the National U19 team said Wednesday that the warm up match was important and must be considered as the final opportunity to select the best XI for the first match.

“The batters focused on big hitting in the first inning (against South African) which was not right” said Ahmadzai.

He added: “The mistakes that we made in the first match must not be repeated, good batting, bowling and fielding must be done which is very important for the team’s performance”.

Ahmadzai also pointed out that the spin bowling attack approach could prove beneficial in these conditions.

“UAE pitches are spin bowling friendly; the ball is not coming good on the bat and sometimes the wickets make it difficult for the batsmen to read the ball well”.

He also added that around 150 runs are a defendable score in these conditions but while bowling first, the team must restrict the opposition to around 130 runs to be able to chase the target down.

Afghanistan defeated West Indies 2-1 in a 3-match T20I series in Lucknow two years ago and will be mentally ready going into this match.

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Ireland beat Afghanistan by 38 runs in first T20I

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(Last Updated On: March 16, 2024)

Ireland defeated Afghanistan by 38 runs to take 1-0 lead in their three-match T20I series in Sharjah on Friday.

Sent to bat first by Afghans who won the toss, Ireland posted 149-6, with Harry Tector scoring 56 off 34 (not out). Captain Paul Stirling hit 25 while Andy Balbirnie made 22.

Rashid Khan, who returned to competitive cricket after months of absence due to back injury, picked up three wickets, giving away 19 runs in the four overs he bowled.

Nangeyalia Kharote picked up two wickets, giving away only 16 runs in his four overs.

Chasing 150, Afghanistan lost Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the very first bowl of their innings. They lost Sediqullah Atal and Azmatullah Omarzai in the second over.

Wickets continued to fall and Afghanistan were all out in the 18.4 overs, having made 111 runs. Mohammad Ishaq (32) was their top-scorer, followed by Mohammad Nabi who made 25.

The second T20I between the sides will be played on Sunday at the same venue.

 

 

 

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Rashid back in team for T20I series against Ireland

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(Last Updated On: March 14, 2024)

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has announced the names of 15 national cricket team players for the T20 international series against Ireland.

Included in the team is Rashid Khan. This comes after a break of a few months following back surgery.

Rashid will also captain the team.

Afghanistan and Ireland cricket teams will face each other at Sharjah Stadium on March 15, 17 and 18 after playing the ODI series and one off test match.

List of Afghanistan players:

Rashid Khan (Captain), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Garbaz, Sediq Atal, Ijaz Ahmadzai, Ishaq Rahimi, Mohammad Nabi, Nangyal Kharotai, Azmatullah Omarzai, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, Wafadar Momand, Farid Malik, Naveen-ul-Haq and Fazal Haq Farooqi.

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Afghanistan beat Ireland by 117 runs to take series 2-0

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(Last Updated On: March 13, 2024)

In the 3rd and final ODI of the series, Afghanistan beat Ireland by 117 runs, at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, on Monday and win the ODI Series 2-0.

Ireland Men fell to a 117-run defeat at the hands of Afghanistan this evening – a result that saw the hosts clinch a 2-0 ODI series victory in Sharjah.

The spin duo of experienced Mohammad Nabi (5-17) and 19-year-old debutant Nangeyalia Kharote (4-30) were the eventual stars with the ball for the hosts, who successfully defended their 237-run target by bowling Ireland all-out for 119 in 35 overs. Nabi had earlier made a crucial 48 with the bat before going on to claim the best figures of his international career.

Having narrowly lost the first ODI, and seen the second washed out, Ireland was looking to level the series in its third and final match before three T20Is begin later in the week.

Paul Stirling called correctly at the toss once again, opting to bowl first and naming one change to his side from the opening fixture, Barry McCarthy replacing Craig Young.

It was McCarthy who struck the first blow, removing opener Ibrahim Zadran (22) to end a 62-run partnership with Rahmanullah Gurbaz (51). That sparked a flurry of wickets, Afghanistan swiftly falling from 62-0 to 96-4.

A fifth-wicket recovery ensued, however, as the wise-heads of Afghan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi (69) and Nabi shared a 97-run stand until the latter picked out Harry Tector at long-on off the bowling of Theo van Woerkom.

Adair (3-51) and McCarty (2-42) delivered well-executed spells at the death to limit Afghanistan to 236-9 from their 50 overs.

Andrew Balbirnie fell early in the reply, but Stirling (50) and Curtis Campher (43) soon steadied the ship. Stirling had registered his highest score as captain in ODIs reaching a run-a-ball half-century – an innings that included four boundaries and two sixes. However, he was caught at long-off three balls later off the bowling of Nabi.

That ended a 73-run partnership for the second wicket which took Ireland to 77-2 halfway through the 18th over and with 160 runs required for victory. At that stage Ireland were still firmly in the contest, until Nabi and Kharote took a grip on proceedings.

Nabi accounted for both Tector and Lorcan Tucker in swift succession, five days after the pair made 138 and 85, respectively, at the same venue.

Kharote had Campher caught behind soon after, went on to bowl George Dockrell and then trap Adair leg-before-wicket in a superb spell of bowling that left Ireland stunned.

Nabi completed a maiden five-wicket haul in international cricket with a beauty that cleaned-up Andy McBrine and the series was wrapped up when McCarthy suffered the same fate at the hands of Kharote.

The two teams now play three T20Is at the same venue, starting Friday, 15 March.

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