Afghanistan 160 for 8 (Zazai 82, Chase 3-35) beat Ireland 79 (Porterfield 33, Rashid 4-17, Mujeeb 3-17) by 81 runs
A second consecutive fifty from Hazratullah Zazai helped the visitors mirror their total of 160 from the first match, before Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan broke the back of Ireland’s chase to script a seventh straight T20I win for Afghanistan over them.
The win by 81 runs equalled Afghanistan’s second-largest victory margin in the format, and rendered the final T20I of the series a dead rubber. It also meant Ireland were shot out for their fourth-lowest T20I total: 79.
For a while it looked like a change in team and strategy would bring about a change in Ireland’s fortunes, when they stifled the run-flow and snaffled early wickets in the Powerplay. That is, until Zazai awoke from a stupor and muscled his way to a 54-ball 82. There was quite a similarity in the way the two teams started off with the bat – finding themselves 8 for 2 – but what separated them was Zazai’s sustained power-hitting and Afghanistan’s bowling depth.
Full report to follow