Abu Dhabi: Afghanistan displayed their might in the first match of the Desert T20 tournament through an impressive five-wicket win over Ireland with eight balls to spare on Saturday night while Netherlands stopped a fighting Oman by five wickets in the first match yesterday (Sunday) with four balls remaining at the Abu Dhabi Zayed Cricket Stadium.
Though Ireland won the toss and elected to bat first, they could not thrash the tight Afghanistan bowling attack which restricted them to 125 for six in 20 overs. Ireland’s bowling was also not disciplined enough to contain the strong Afghanistan batting line up. Through an all-round show from Mohammad Nabi, who took two wickets for 27 runs and remained unbeaten with 26 runs, Afghanistan won the match with eight balls to spare.
Ireland began well through openers Paul Stirling and Stuart Poynter by putting on 36 runs. The first to go was Poynter. Nabi clean bowled Poynter for 18 and soon Stirling played Amir Hamza into the hands of Gulbadin Naib at midwicket for 25. Their experienced skipper William Porterfield, hit run-a-ball 17 runs before playing Hamza onto to his wicket.
Kevin O’Brien, who once hit the fastest century in a World Cup match off just 50 balls against England in 2011, failed to read the spin of Rashid Khan and was trapped leg before for 12. Nabi trapped Greg Thompson leg before for three and due to Gary Wilson’s 23 runs Ireland managed a total of above 100 runs.
Afghanistan openers Mohammad Shahzad (29) and Najeeb Tarakal (31) through a 54-run partnership in 7.5 overs made the target look small. Nabi completed the task with his 26 runs which came off 17 balls with two sixes and one boundary to walk away with the man of the match award.
In the first match yesterday (Sunday), Oman batted first and posted 146 for seven in 20 overs. Though they lost opener Arun Poulose for nine and one-down batsman Aqib Ilyas for 4, opener Zeeshan Maqsood (34) kept the scoreboard moving. Though wickets kept falling regularly, Nasheek Khan by hitting 25 runs and Khurram Nawaz (26) ensured a fighting total.
Chasing the score, Netherlands opener Michael Rippon cracked 40 and wicketkeeper Wesley Barresi scored 48 but still Oman had the match in their grip before Roelof van der Merwe upset them with an unbeaten 35.
Brief scores:
Afghanistan bt Ireland by 5 wickets. Ireland 125 for 6 (Paul Stirling 25, Gary Wilson 23, Amir Hamza 2 for 21, Mohammad Nabi 2 for 27, Rashid Khan 2 for 22) Afghanistan 126 for 5 in 18.4 overs (Mohammad Shahzad 29, Najeeb Tarakai 31, Mohammad Nabi 26n.o, Jacob Mulder 2 for 23).
Netherlands bt Oman by five wickets. Oman 146 for 7 in 20 overs (Zeehsan Maqsood 34, Khurram Nawaz 26n.o. Nasheem Kushi 25) Netherlands 148 for 5 in 19.2 overs (Michael Rippon 40. Wesley Barresi 48, Roelof van der Merwe 35n.o, Bilal Khan 2 for 33, Nasheem Kushi 2 for 24)
Today (Monday) matches:
2pm: Hong Kong vs Oman
7pm: UAE vs Afghanistan
