Afghanistan vs Ireland, 3rd T20I at Sharjah, AFG v IRE, Mar 18 2024 - Ball by Ball Commentary

Rashid lifts the series trophy, as Afghanistan come from behind to win the T20I series 2-1. That was it from us for this tour, with Ireland taking the one-off Test, and Afghanistan winning both limited-overs series. Until next time, this is goodnight and goodbye from Vairavan and me, Himanshu! Take care!

Rashid Khan is the Player of the Series: "So happy to be on the winning side. It was tough for me to come back after three-four months. A great series win, especially for the youngsters. They delivered. Even the senior players stood up and performed. Cricket is all about enjoyment; that's why you have to give the free hand to the youngsters. The future of Afghanistan cricket is very bright. We planned about the World Cup since I became the captain. We have in mind that we have to perform at the World Cup. We need to be well prepared, mentally and physically both."

Paul Stirling, Ireland captain: "We were slightly off the pace, and beaten by the better side. But really proud of some performances. It's hard to bowl to any batsman here in the back end. You've got to pick your players and back them; That's what we're going to do. That Test match [win] was special. We look forward to the next series."

Ibrahim Zadran is the Player of the Match: "I am really happy with my performance today. I didn't play well in the first two games. From my side especially, I wanted to play well today. It's quite tough to play all three formats, but I try to adjust with each format as quickly as I can. I try to enjoy and adjust quickly. We don't have any series before the [T20] World Cup, so we'll see where we can improve. But I will work hard for the World Cup. Everyone will try to have a good World Cup."

Time for the presentations

Naveen-ul-Haq: "Coming into the series, I was feeling well. But the first game didn't go my way; it happens. It was a good game [today]. Early breakthroughs were needed. I have been playing quite a lot of T20 cricket. So it is good preparation for me heading into the T20 World Cup. The second wicket I liked the most, because we - me, Nabi and Rashid - had planned it that way."

11.27pm The chase was never on. Never did it feel that Ireland were on track on hunt down 156. They were 15 for 3 in the third over, and Afghanistan ensured there was no way back for Ireland from there. There was a brief recovery during the fourth-wicket stand, but it was nipped at 24; there was hope even during the sixth-wicket pair's counter, but it was broken soon after. Omarzai got 4 for 9, and Naveen bagged 3 for 10, as Afghanistan won comfortably. Hang around for the presentations.

From around

White

Rashid back

Little

McCarthy

Omarzai back