Greater Noida: Ireland won the Super Over against Afghanistan in the third T20 match played in Greater Noida on 10 March. With this, Afghanistan’s dream of a clean sweep in three T20 matches remained unfulfilled.
Batting first after winning the toss in the match, Ireland had a poor start. The team had two shocks in the form of Paul Sterling (0) and captain Andrew Balbrene (9) on 12 runs.
Kevin O’Brien (26) then took over the half-century partnership for the third wicket with Grath Delaney. Grath was on 37 from 29 balls with 5 fours and 1 six, while Harry Tactor was out for 31 off 22 balls.
However, despite recovering Ireland failed to shape the innings again and the team started losing wickets fast. Apart from Simi Singh (12) in the lower order, no one could touch the double figures and the team could only manage 142 runs by losing 8 wickets in the prescribed 20 overs. From the opposition team, Naveen-ul-Haq and Kais Ahmed took 3-3, while Mujib ur Rehman and Rashid Khan took 1-1 wickets each.
Chasing the target, Afghanistan scored 60 runs for the first wicket thanks to Rahmatullah Gurbaz (42) and Usman Ghani (18). The team got off to a great start, but Grath Delaney dismissed both the openers in the 9th over, putting the opposition team in trouble.
After this, Karim Janat (17) and captain Asghar Afghan (32) tried to play, but the middle order could not play. Afghanistan needed 16 runs to win in the last over and it seemed that Ireland would easily finish the match in their favor, but on the basis of three boundaries of Rashid Khan (14 not out), Afghanistan scored 15 runs in the last over. The match was relegated to the super over.
Gurbaz and Nabi descended on the ground for Afghanistan in the Super Over. Craig Young had the ball in his hands. On the first three balls, both batsmen raced for 1–1, while on the next ball Gurbaz picked up two runs with a shot in the air. On the fifth ball, Nabi once again ran for one run, while on the last ball, Gurbaz managed to steal a double. In this way, Afghanistan scored 8 runs in the super over.
Kevin O’Brien and Paul Sterling came on the field chasing a 9-run target for Ireland in the Super Over. The ball was in the hands of spinner Rashid Khan. Bryan played a high shot off the first ball, but the ball fell between the fielders and by then he had run for one run. On the second ball, Sterling hit a long on in the direction of long on, but on the next ball, Rashid Khan lbw to him.
Tactor came out to bat at number three and narrowly survived being stumped off his first ball. On the fifth ball, Tactor singled and Brian on the last ball gave Ireland a thrilling victory.