KABUL (SW): Afghanistan beat Ireland on Friday in a nail-biting qualifier to secure place in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.
Both Afghanistan and Ireland with 4 points were behind the West Indies, Zimbabwe and Scotland on the chart, however, the victory earned Afghanistan two important points to reach to the mega event.
Batting first, Ireland were restricted by the Afghans for a modest total of 209 thanks to the disciplined bowling and fielding in Harare. Googly-master Rashid Khan was pick of the bowlers taking three wickets for 40 runs in 10 overs. For Ireland, PR Stirling scored the most 55 runs.
Chasing the target, Mohammad Shahzad and Gulbuddin Naib gave a nice start of 86 runs in 17 overs. However, things got out of hand, and the middle-order find it hard to score runs. Captain Asghar Stanikzai came to the rescue, and scored quick-fired 39 of 29 balls and Najib Zadran 17 of 15 balls that released the pressured, and achieve the target with five balls to spare.
Afghanistan would face top-ranked West Indies in the final on Sunday.
ENDS
