IRE vs AFG, 2nd T20I: Match Preview, Head to Head, Playing XI and Broadcast Details

Ireland and Afghanistan will play the second T20I match of the five-match series at Civil Service Cricket Club in Belfast on Thursday, August 11. Ireland won the opening match by seven wickets with just a ball remaining to take lead in the series.

Afghanistan scored 168 runs with the help of Usman Ghani (59 off 42) and Ibrahim Zadran (unbeaten 29 off just 18). For Ireland, Barry McCarthy took three wickets while conceding 34 runs and all-rounder George Dockrell snapped two for just seven runs.

Ireland started well with experienced batter Paul Stirling scoring 31 runs and skipper Andy Balbirnie contributing with 51 runs. The in-form wicketkeeper-batter Lorcan Tucker played a match-winning knock of 50 off just 32 balls, with Harry Tector scoring an unbeaten 25 off 15 to guide the hosts to a seven-wicket win in the last over.

With the win, Ireland ended their eight-match losing streak. The hosts have been impressive against strong opponents India, New Zealand, and South Africa in the last two months with some narrow defeats. Their batting lineup is looking strong and consistent as they seemed to have benefitted from playing against stronger opponents lately.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan fielded their strongest possible starting eleven in the opening match and came pretty close to winning. Most of the current players performed well in the recently concluded domestic T20 league and are in good form lately.

They won all six matches (three ODIs and three T20Is) on the Zimbabwe tour in June and are well placed to compete in the upcoming 2022 T20 World Cup in October-November. They have already secured the Final 12 qualification while Ireland will be facing West Indies, Scotland, and Zimbabwe to qualify for the Final 12 stage.

Pitch Conditions

The pitch at Civil Service Club has been balanced in the past T20I games. However, the seamers struggled to produce extra pace and bounce in the first match and spinners also failed to make an impact. The average first innings score at the venue in last five T20 matches has been 177 runs with the teams batting first winning three of those matches.

Playing Combinations for IRE vs AFG

Ireland

Ireland batters are in fine form with the top four scoring consistently. But lower-order batters George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, and Curtis Campher will have to contribute more in the remaining matches. 

Predicted XI: Paul Stirling, Andy Balbirnie (c), Lorcan Tucker (wk), Harry Tector, George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, Curtis Campher, Mark Adair, Andy McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Joshua Little.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan bowlers managed to take only three wickets in the first match. Spinners bowled economically but failed to take wickets in middle overs and both young pacers Naveen-ul-Haq and Fazalhaq Farooqi struggled to make an impact on the pace-friendly surface. They would want to make amends in the second game.

Predicted XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Usman Ghani, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi (c), Ibrahim Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi.

IRE vs AFG Head-to-Head

Played – 19 | Ireland – 5 | Afghanistan – 14 | NR – 0

IRE vs AFG Broadcast Details

Match Timings- 8:00 PM IST and 03:30 PM Local Time

Streaming- FanCode