Afghanistan made it eight straight victories over Ireland in T20 Internationals with a five-wicket win in the first of three games in the northern Indian city of Dehradun on Thursday. The innings soon had lift-off when Stirling bludgeoned a few commanding drives to double Ireland’s score in the fourth. Nabi claimed the big scalp of Stirling (23), with Najibullah Zadran clinging on at deep-midwicket, as Ireland fell to 39 for three. After that first-over blitz, Ireland had replied with three wickets for 14 runs off the next three. With nine runs required off the final two overs, the task became a tall one for Ireland, who have not beaten Afghanistan in a T20 international since November 2013.

Source: The Irish Times February 21, 2019 17:48 UTC