2022 T20 World Cup: Afghanistan-Ireland match abandoned due to rain
Rain played a spoilsport as the 25th match of the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup between Afghanistan and Ireland was abandoned without a ball being bowled. Both teams will take a point each from this fixture. Unfortunately, this was Afghanistan's second successive no-result after suffering a similar fate against New Zealand. They are yet to open their account in the tourney. Here's more.
How have Ireland and Afghanistan fared so far?
Ireland concluded second in the Group B standings (first round), with six and nine-wicket wins over Scotland and West Indies respectively. Coming to the Super 12s, they succumbed to a nine-wicket drubbing against SL before beating England by five runs (DLS). And now, a rain-abandoned contest. For Afghanistan, they lost by five wickets to the Three Lions before back-to-back no-results against NZ and Ireland.
Who have been their key performers?
Veteran Paul Stirling tops the scoring charts, having slammed 122 runs in five innings at 30.18 (HS: 66* vs West Indies). Joshua Little has been the best bet with the ball, with six scalps at 24.33. Meanwhile, Ibrahim Zadran (32) is Afghanistan's leading run-getter in the tournament. Fareed Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, and Rashid Khan have snared a wicket each.
MCG will host three more matches, including final
The MCG has hosted four matches in the 2022 T20 WC so far, including the nail-biting India-Pakistan clash. The iconic venue will play host to three more matches - October 28: England vs Australia, November 6: India vs Zimbabwe, and November 13: Final.
A look at the Group 1 standings
New Zealand lead the Group 1 points table with a Net Run Rate (NRR) of +4.450. England are second with their game also being washed out versus Australia (+0.239). Ireland (-1.169) and Australia (-1.555) follow suit. Notably, all these sides have three points each. Sri Lanka and Afghanistan have 2 points with with their NRR reading +0.450 and -0.620 respectively.
