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Ireland and Afghanistan will meet in the first T20I of their five-match series on Tuesday, August 9. The Civil Service Cricket Club in Belfast will play host to this encounter.
Ireland lost their previous T20I series 0-2 against South Africa. They lost the first game by 21 runs. In the second match, South Africa put up a match-winning score of 182/6 on the board, batting first. Ireland reduced the Proteas to 85/4 at one stage.
However, they failed to build on it and conceded too many runs that allowed South Africa to put up a solid total. Gareth Delany was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/24 from his four overs.
In reply, Ireland lost a couple of early wickets as Andrew Balbirnie and Lorcan Tucker both departed without troubling the scorers. Paul Stirling and Harry Tector then put up a decent stand but they just kept on losing wickets and were bowled out for 138, falling short by 44 runs in the end.
Afghanistan, on the other hand, beat Zimbabwe 3-0 in their most recent T20I series. They put up convincing performances throughout the series and deservingly came out on top.
Afghanistan won the first game by six wickets, second game by 21 runs and the final match by 35 runs to complete a whitewash. They could only score 125/8 in the final T20I batting first, with skipper Mohammad Nabi top-scoring with 31.
Their bowlers responded to the challenge and restricted Zimbabwe to 90/9 from their 20 overs to successfully defend the target. They picked up wickets at regular intervals and kept the pressure on the Zimbabwe batters.
Noor Ahmad was the star of the show, picking up four wickets while Sharafuddin Ashraf had a couple of scalps as well. Defending a low total only came as a confidence booster for an already strong Afghanistan side.
It will be crucial for both Ireland and Afghanistan to start well and gain early momentum in their upcoming five-match series.
Will Ireland (IRE) beat Afghanistan (AFG) in the first T20I?
Ireland have had a number of close games in recent times against India, New Zealand and South Africa. They have played well but have not been able to close out games and capitalize on the crunch moments. Their batting has been good but they will have to be more consistent. The bowling will also need to step up to put more pressure on the opposition batters.
Afghanistan, led by an experienced Mohammad Nabi, have done well in this format. They have enough match-winners in their side such as Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Najibullah Zadran and Rashid Khan, among others.
It is expected to be an exciting contest as Afghanistan begin as favorites to get over the line in the opening T20I.
Prediction: Afghanistan to win.
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