All-round Ireland humble Afghanistan in first T20I: Key stats
Ireland humbled sorry Afghanistan by 38 runs in the first T20I held in Sharjah. The Irish posted a score of 149/6 in 20 overs. Harry Tector led the charge with an unbeaten 56. Rashid Khan took a three-fer. In response, the Afghans fell for 111 in 18.4 overs. Benjamin White claimed 4/20 as Joshua Little picked up three scalps. Here are the stats.
Rashid Khan becomes the third-highest wicket-taker
Rashid was superb, conceding just 19 runs from his four overs. As per ESPNcricinfo, Rashid has raced to 133 T20I wickets at just 14.61. He owns the third-highest tally of wickets, surpassing Ish Sodhi (132). Versus Ireland, Rashid owns 40 scalps from 19 matches. He averages 10.70. In 54 matches across neutral venues, Rashid owns 95 scalps at 13.35.
Paul Stirling attains this unique record
Ireland's Paul Stirling scored 25 from 27 balls. He hit two fours and a six. Stirling became the first batter in the men's T20Is to slam 400-plus fours (401). Pakistan's Babar Azam is second with 395 fours.
Tector smashes an important fifty
Tector's 34-ball 56* was laced with seven fours and two sixes. He struck at 164.71. Tector owns 1,227 runs from 68 matches (62 innings) at an average of 24.54. Tector clocked his fifth T20I fifty. In nine matches versus Afghanistan, he owns 208 runs at 41.60. He smashed his maiden T20I fifty versus the Afghans.
Little and White shine with the ball
Ireland pacer Little was solid with the ball, picking up a three-fer. He conceded 18 runs from four overs. Little now owns 75 scalps in T20Is at 23.56. In 15 matches against the Afghans, he owns 16 scalps, registering his best spell. White was the match-winner with 4/20. In 21 matches, White owns 26 scalps at 20.5. He managed his maiden four-fer.
How did the match pan out?
Ireland's openers added 38 runs before the Afghans fought back to reduce them to 72/5. A 35-run stand was added between Tector and Gareth Delany (16) thereafter. Tector and Mark Adair then helped the Irishmen reach 149. Afghanistan did a decent job with the ball. In response, Afghanistan were never in the match and lost regular scalps. White and Little delivered with the ball.
