Full toss and it's smashed over midwicket for a six... and Ireland go 2-0 up
Ireland vs Afghanistan, 2nd T20I at Belfast, IRE v AFG, Aug 11 2022 - Ball by Ball Commentary
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Josh Little is Player of the Match for his 2/18: "I had a nice little rhythm. Something I was successful at the World Cup last year, always going to look at what works for me. if you get wickets in the powerplay you always give yourself a chance."
Andy Balbirnie, Ireland captain: "We were brilliant in the powerplay. Josh Little gets better and better. We've been great against world-class layers in the last few weeks." Fielding: "We know we have to be good at it. We are working on various things, glad to see the benefits for it." His own batting: "You've to remind yourself you've done good stuff in the past. We're gelling well as a team as we've been playing a lot together."
Mohammad Nabi, Afghanistan captain: "We didn't read the pitch properly, we thought it was dry but the ball was seaming a lot. We were 30 runs short. We threw away wickets back to back upfront. We started with a quick because it was a seaming wicket." Fielding: "We missed a lot of balls, hopefully we will come back well in the next match. We will work on the mistakes."
6.54pm That's back-to-back wins for Ireland after a string of losses. Afghanistan could post just 122 for 8 after opting to bat with Ireland fast bowlers getting regular wickets. In reply, Ireland did struggle a bit to get going. But a 65-run stand between captain Balbirnie and Lorcan Tucker set up the chase... and George Dockrell finished it off. The difference between the two teams was definitely the fielding. Afghanistan missed a number of chances on the field and were careless at times. They'll look to come back well and keep the series alive.
Slower short one, Dockrell is beaten all ends up
Yorker and the batter digs it out for a single on the offside
banged in short again, he pulls it strongly to midwicket
Banged in short, pulled off the backfoot to midwicket
Angled in on middle, it's smashed back hard at the bowler.. bowler gets a hand on it but it rolls away down the ground. Farooqi looks to have hurt himself in the process
Short again, it is slapped off the backfoot to fielder at cover
Angled in flicked on the legside.. just a single
Short into the body, pushed away to the covers for a single
Short ball, he slaps it to mid-off for a quick single.. and there's an overthrow. Fielding has been below-par
Angled in on middle and leg, he cramped him for room, pushed to offside
Back of length on middle, pushed to midwicket..Superb running from the batters
Full on middle, pushed to covers
Short ball, he advances down and goes for the pull but has knicked it behind!
A bit wide on off, cut away to deep third
Around the wicket, Angled on middle stump, smashed down the ground for a boundary
Advanced down the track and tries to drive but it comes into him too full
Around the wicket, angled in, pushed through the covers for a single
13 runs off the over. Ireland back on top
Flicked fine for a boundary
Cut away on the offside, poor fielding from Ibrahim at deep point as he lets the ball go through
Over 19 • IRE 125/5
Ireland won by 5 wickets (with 6 balls remaining)