Afg vs Ire 3rd T20 Highlights: Afghanistan showed that they are a class above Ireland. (Twitter)
Afghanistan vs Ireland, Afg vs Ire 3rd T20 Highlights: Kevin O’Brien and Andy Balbirnie stitched a decent partnership in Ireland’s 211-run chase after winning the toss and chosing fielding. However, it was not strong enough to take the pressure off them with Afghanistan bowlers thrashing them in their chase towards the end of the match.
Afghanistan won the third and final T20I by 32 runs to complete 3-0 whitewash of Ireland. Rashid Khan starred for Afghanister with a fifer while Nabi shone with the bat, putting up a score of 81.
Match EndedAfghanistan and Ireland tour of India, 2019 - 3rd T20I
Afghanistan
210/7 (20.0)vs
Ireland
178/8 (20.0)Match Ended ( Day - 3rd T20I )
Afghanistan beat Ireland by 32 runs
Afghanistan beat Ireland by 32 runs
Live Blog
Rashid Khan takes a fifer to help Afghanistan win the third T20I by 32 runs and whitewash Ireland 3-0. Nabi - 81(36), Rashid - 5/27 help Afghanistan complete the whitewash in Dehradun.
Hat-trick for Rashid Khan! Fourth scalp and second successive 4-fer for the 20-year old as Ireland are on the verge of getting whitewashed in the series. IRE are 162/7 after 18 overs.
GONE! Dockrell departs for 18 as Rashid Khan takes his second wicket, with a brilliant catch from Nabi. IRE are 158/5 (17.1 overs)
Kevin O'Brien gets a bottom edge, caught brilliantly by Shafiqullah behind the stumps. IRE are IRE 153/4 after 16 overs
Ireland cross the 150-run mark with loss of three wickets. IRE are 153/3, need 58 runs in 25 balls
WICKET! Ziaur Rahman gets his second wicket of the over as Thompson is run out by Najibullah Zadran for 1. IRE are 129/3 after 14 overs
Andy Balbirnie falls short of a half-century as Afghanistan get a breakthrough. Balbirnie departs for 47 following an excellent delivery from Ziaur Rahman
Afghanistan miss their chance of a breakthrough but Shirzad drops to save Kevin O Brien, who has steered Ireland with his half-century. IRE are 122/1 after 13 overs, need 89 runs in 42 balls.
Ireland bring up 100 with loss of just one wicket. Rashid Khan is however yet to bowl. IRE are 100/1 after 10 overs, need 111 runs in 60 balls
Kevin O Brien brings up his T20I half-century from just 25 balls. He is is the fourth Irish batsman to pass 1000 runs in T20 Internationals! IRE are 91/1 after 9 overs, needing 120 runs in 66 balls to win the match.
Kevin O Brien and Andrew Balbirnie with a 50-run partnership as IRE are 82/1 after 8 overs
End of powerplay and Ireland are on track, reaching 66/1. Balbirnie on 19* Kevin O Brien on 34*
End of powerplay and Ireland are on track, reaching 66/1. Balbirnie on 19* Kevin O Brien on 34*
Ireland bring up 50 with a loss of one wicket as Andy Balbirnie hits Shirzad for a four! IRE are 52/1
OUT! Ziaur Rahman gets the first wicket for Afghanistan as Paul Stirling departs for 10 after trying to hit over the top off. He miscues to mid on to give Rahman his maiden wicket in T20I.
IRE are 32/1 after 3 overs, need 179 runs to win
Kevin O'Brien hits Zia-ur-Rehman for a six! And a fine shot at that too, deposits it over deep mid-wicket.
A good start to the innings for Ireland as they get 13 runs in the first over including three fours.
A good start to the innings for Ireland as they get 13 runs in the first over including three fours.
Ireland begin chase. They need 211 runs to win this match. Paul Stirling and Kevin O Brien open for Ireland
Ireland are given a target of 211 to win the third and final T20I after Afghanistan post 210/7 from their 20 overs.
OUT! Shafiqullah departs for 12 to become the seventh wicket for Ireland. Afghanistan cross the 200-run mark with a loss of seven wickets.
He goes big again and this time he is caight at deep midwicket. Nabi departs having made 81 off 36, Afghanistan 191/6
Shafiqullah hits a four, takes a single and then Nabi takes over. Alternate sixes and fours and Afghanistan are now 186/5
Nabi goes berzerk after that run-out. A four and then two sixes and he crosses the 50-run mark. Afghanistan 161/5 after 16 overs
Casual running from Afghanistan and Najibullah Zadran deserved nothing less than a run out there. He pulls it away to midwicket and takes a single that was never there.
Mohammad Nabi and Najibullah Zadran are in the middle. Both are players who know how to hit a shot or two and are doing exactly that. Afghanistan 143/4 in 15 overs.
Afghanistan skipper Asghar Afghan puts it straight down the throat of long-on. Shane Getkate strikes, full delivery outside off that Afghan tries to pick up. Can't get enough distance on it.
Mohammad Nabi brings up the three figures for Afghanistan with a six over long-on. As clean a strike as they come.
Halfway mark and it has been an intriguing contest so far. It looked Afghanistan would run away with this again the way the openers were going but both were dismissed within a small space of time. Ireland have since managed to keep a check on Afghanistan but 84/3 after 10 overs is always a healthy zone to be in.
Tarakai tries to go big down the ground but the ball comes off the toe end of the bat. Balbirnie still had to come running in from long on and ends up taking a sharp catch.
The two batsmen are taking their time to settle in and so the fireworks have stopped for now. Afghanistan are still on a healthy 66/2 off 7 overs.
Boyd Rankin gets another thanks to an absolute stunner from Ireland skipper Paul Stirling. Zazai has to go! He had hit a four and six since he lost his opening partner and tried to go big again. The ball goes miles up in the air, and Stirling has to put in a dive to get to it. He does so with aplomb. Sensational stuff.
No record opening partnership this time! Ghani caught in the crease trying to whip a good length delivery. Ends up taking it flush on the pads in front of the stumps. Afghanistan 46/1.
Zazai seems to have just picked up where he left off yesterday. He has now smoked five fours, three of which came back to back with a wide to seperate the second and third in the fourth over. Afghanistan are 46/0 in 4 overs.
Four singles were taken off the first four balls before Zazai latched on to a full delivery and sent it straight back down the bowler's area. The next one is sent soaring over midwicket. Afghanistan 19/0 after 2 overs.
A longish delay as the batsman has issues with the sightscreen. Not sure exactly what the problem is but it has taken around five minutes to resolve.
Simi Singh has the ball in his hand with Hazratullah Zazai on strike. Two runs come off the first ball and that is followed by two dot balls and then three singles. 5/0 after 1 over.
... And there is no reason to believe that they might have pushed the boundaries even a centimetre back. It means we can expect another run feast here.
Yesterday's match had to be temporarily halted after the first over due to a case of sprinklers gone wrong. When play resumed, Hazratullah Zazai followed suit. He was ably assisted by an equally ruthless Usman Ghani and the pair broke all sorts of records during their 236-run partnership. READ
Ireland: Paul Stirling(c), Kevin O'Brien, Andrew Balbirnie, Shane Getkate, Simi Singh, Stuart Poynter(w), George Dockrell, Stuart Thompson, Joshua Little, Boyd Rankin, Peter Chase
Afghanistan: Hazratullah Zazai, Usman Ghani, Shafiqullah (wk), Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Asghar Afghan (capt), Rashid Khan, Najeeb Tarakai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Sayed Shirzad, Zia-ur-Rehman
Ireland skipper Paul Stirling states the obvious - "We need a much-improved performance today" - before stating that Stuart Thompson comes in for Lorcan Tucker. Asghar Afghan, on the other hand, says that Afghanistan have made four changes to the side.
The first match was a low-scoring thriller, the second was a run-laden absurdity. Afghanistan have won this already but the nature of this series has been such that fans might tune in to check out what side of T20 cricket is on offer today. The 'home' side have shown that they are well and truly a class above teams like Ireland in limited overs cricket, something they showed earlier with their incredible performances at the Asia Cup. They would now be looking to make it a 3-0 whitewash and go into five-match ODI series with a proper spring to their steps.