Afghanistan vs Ireland, 2020: 1st T20I – A new T20I record for Rashid, Afghanistan's winning streak and more stats

Afghanistan took a 1-0 lead in the 3-match T20I series against Ireland as they won the first match by 11 runs by virtue of the DLS method. Paul Stirling (60) and Kevin O’Brien (35) added 63 for the first wicket inside the powerplay before Irish team were slowed down in the middle overs. Rashid Khan’s 3/22 put breaks to Ireland’s innings which ended on 172/6.

Afghanistan also had an opening stand of 54 runs which came in only 4.3 overs but lost four wickets for 16 runs. Samiullah Shenwari (28) and Najibullah Zadran (42* off 21) added 63 for the 5th wicket. The partnership was broken just before the rain intervened at the end of 15th over when they were at 133. The DLS par score at that point was only 122.

All the statistical highlights from Afghanistan’s win in the first T20I against Ireland:

Afghanistan’s streak against Ireland:

11 – Afghanistan’s winning streak against Ireland now extends to 11 in the T20 format which began at the start of 2017. Ireland’s last T20I win over Afghanistan came way back in the 2013 WT20 Qualifier Final. Afghanistan also won all the four T20Is they played in Greater Noida.

Ireland’s losing streak in India:

10 – Ireland has not won any of the 10 matches they played in the T20I format on the Indian soil. They lost nine T20Is in India which includes 7 defeats against Afghanistan while another game ended in a washout after 8 overs of first innings. No team has played as many as 10 matches in a country without a victory in Men’s T20Is.

Rashid on to the top of a T20I list:

13 – Rashid Khan has registered 3-wicket hauls on 13 occasions in the T20I cricket; the most 3-fers for any bowler in Men’s T20I cricket. Rashid went past Lasith Malinga and Umar Gul who have had 12 three-wicket hauls apiece in T20Is.

87 – Rashid now has 87 wickets in the T20I format; the 4th most wickets for any player in Men’s T20I cricket. Rashid went past Umar Gul (85) and Saeed Ajmal (85) with the 3-wicket haul on Friday.

Rashid’s 100 on Indian soil:

100 – Rashid Khan completed 100 wickets in the Twenty20 format on Indian soil with the 3-fer. Rashid achieved the milestone in only 66 matches and is averaging 16.52. He took those 100 wickets at a strike rate of 15.5 and an economy of 6.37. Rashid’s average, strike-rate and economy are the best among the 30 players who picked up 100 T20 wickets in India till date.

45 – Rashid has claimed 45 wickets in the T20I format in India which are the most number of wickets in the Men’s T20Is in any country. Rashid went past Tim Southee’s tally of 44 T20I wickets in New Zealand with the 3-fer.

Stirling continues his good record:

10 – Paul Stirling has registered 10 fifties in T20I cricket across 24 matches since the start of 2019. No other player in this span has recorded more than seven 50+ scores in T20I cricket.

Samiullah @ 1000:

1013 – Runs Samiullah Shinwari has aggregated in his T20I career thus far. He became 4th player to score 1000 T20I runs for Afghanistan when he got to 15 in this match.