Afghanistan win the Desert T20 Challenge (2017) [Post Update #63]

[Donal Cozzie]

8 Associate nations have come together to form this 8 team t20 event that begins tomorrow. This thread is for discussing the results and matches.

Unfortunately they aren't being streamed or shown on TV because, get this, the ICC required that for the matches and tournament to be sanctioned there
could be no coverage.There will however be small highlight packages.

There are two groups, top two going through to the semi finals and final. Groups are as follow

A

Afghanistan
Ireland
UAE
Namibia

B

Netherlands
Oman
Scotland
Hong Kong

Group B in particular anybody can beat anybody, all good sides. PNG were invited but couldn't afford to go so Namibia replace them.

First matches tomorrow are Ireland vs Afghanistan, Scotland vs Hong Kong.

My personal expectations of Ireland in t20 remain low as evidenced by the fact we are actually the lowest ranked team in the competition. Against a team as strong as Afghanistan I cant see us winning but we've added some new players so hopefully they give a decent account of themselves. My main focus is on our 10 game tour vs Afghanistan in March. Would be happy if we make the knock outs.

Promises to be an entertaining tournament.

 

[Slog]

where is this being held

 

[Donal Cozzie]

where is this being held

UAE are hosting, it was the ECB's (Emirati, not England haha) original idea and they hope to make it an annual event.

 

[Barragan]

So, icc won't approve of the tournament, if there is coverage?

Coverage would have meant money being made for the Associates and they desperately need it.

 

[Donal Cozzie]

So, icc won't approve of the tournament, if there is coverage?

Coverage would have meant money being made for the Associates and they desperately need it.

ICC don't want that, they want the Associates totally reliant on whatever funding they get because otherwise the Associates could break away and form their own organisation over some of the moronic ICC decisions made nowadays.

 

[Asim2Good]

which grounds they are using?
if main stadiums are been used in Dubai,Abu Dhabi, Sharjah then its bad news for PSL
Last time Master League was played on same pitches before PSL and pitches became very slow and hard to bat on. hopefully it ll not be same once again

 

[nighthawk23]

which grounds they are using?
if main stadiums are been used in Dubai,Abu Dhabi, Sharjah then its bad news for PSL
Last time Master League was played on same pitches before PSL and pitches became very slow and hard to bat on. hopefully it ll not be same once again

It is just Abu Dhabi. The tournament only lasts a week.

UAE pitches are dead anyway.

 

[Asim2Good]

It is just Abu Dhabi. The tournament only lasts a week.

UAE pitches are dead anyway.

but there is difference in fresh pitch and pitches which are been used on daily basis for week or two

 

[nighthawk23]

but there is difference in fresh pitch and pitches which are been used on daily basis for week or two

So how do you explain the PSL pitches coming back to life midway through the tournament?

 

[Ahson8]

We will be playing this tournament in about two years' time..

 

[Asim2Good]

So how do you explain the PSL pitches coming back to life midway through the tournament?

matches were moved to Sharjah after initial matches
and then came back to dubai after 7-8 days time so there was time to prepare pitch properly.

 

[Shutdown Corner]

What are the fixtures of the 10 game tour in March? A few 4-dayers, I'd imagine?

 

[Donal Cozzie]

What are the fixtures of the 10 game tour in March? A few 4-dayers, I'd imagine?

1 Intercontinental Cup game.
5 ODI's
3 T20's

Will be an extremely difficult tour but one I'm relishing. Ireland have never had such a tour before and will be great experience for the younger squad players.

There was also IIRC some cricket ireland document or board official quoted as saying Afghanistan will be touring us again this summer, but for the life of me I can't remember or find where I saw it. Was definitely said though.

 

[cricket.mad]

1 Intercontinental Cup game.
5 ODI's
3 T20's

Will be an extremely difficult tour but one I'm relishing. Ireland have never had such a tour before and will be great experience for the younger squad players.

There was also IIRC some cricket ireland document or board official quoted as saying Afghanistan will be touring us again this summer, but for the life of me I can't remember or find where I saw it. Was definitely said though.

Is this tour played in India, which is the Base for Afghanistan cricket?

 

[Donal Cozzie]

Is this tour played in India, which is the Base for Afghanistan cricket?

Yes, Greater Noida.

Scotland demolishing Hong Kong atm, impressive showing.

 

[Major]

Zimbabwe na ider kay na uder kay

They get ignored from full members and from associates

 

[Donal Cozzie]

Zimbabwe na ider kay na uder kay

They get ignored from full members and from associates

They were invited and decided not to go because its Zimbabwe, if they appeared here they'd lose at least twice.

Very interesting news for Ireland is that Phil Simmons is at the game today which surely places Bracewell under a lot of pressure. Jacob Mulder (domestic leggie) starts.

Still dont see us winning but we're at least trying players out. Excited to see how they get on.

 

[Donal Cozzie]

17 year old U19 pacer Little also plays. Wow, big test for him.

 

[Arham_PakFan]

This is a good step for the Associate nations,it should be at least a biannual event held in different countries.The ICC should have helped provide adequate coverage.

 

[thelandofthebravepeople]

I am looking forward to see how Rashid Armaan bowls.

If IReland play him well they could win.

 

[wicketpace]

17 year old U19 pacer Little also plays. Wow, big test for him.

good for the fans,

My favourite irish player was Kevin O Brien...don't know about his current form but he deserves a call in the top leagues

 

[Donal Cozzie]

Well its the same story for us.

Batsmen all technically sound, can go at 6-7 an over no problem.

Minute they try up the tempo it falls apart.

Always wait till both sides bat to judge, but if Shahzad.Najibullah play 20 balls combined theyve won this.

Depressing stuff. Batsmen just dont have the skillset to succeed in this form bar Kevin/Thompson and Stirling

 

[Donal Cozzie]

Well the bowling has been heartening. Mulder in his second appearance played excellently. Guys really made Afghanistan sweat a bit, if we had even 10 more runs to play with who knows.

Congrats to Afghanistan anyway, deserved to win. Unsurprisingly Rashid and Nabi the difference.

Our spinners have done quite well. Mulder the 20yr old leggie one to look out for perhaps, born in Perth.

 

[thelandofthebravepeople]

Quite disappointing from Ireland. This was at least 170 wicket.

Afghanistan could have easily won this by 7-8 wicket, but gave away some soft dismissals.

 

[Donal Cozzie]

Quite disappointing from Ireland. This was at least 170 wicket.

Afghanistan could have easily won this by 7-8 wicket, but gave away some soft dismissals.

Poor comments. Soft dismissals = got done in by good spin bowling. Don't get me wrong we were below par but if it was as easy as you say Afghanistan would've blown us away and won with 4-5 overs left, they didn't and at one point wobbled a bit.

 

[aloo paratha]

I like the idea of this competition, should happen every year if not every other year.

 

[thelandofthebravepeople]

Ireland won their second game against Namibia. Tomorrow they have a knockout game against UAE.

Scotland and Afghanistan are already into the semis.

 

[Donal Cozzie]

Ireland won their second game against Namibia. Tomorrow they have a knockout game against UAE.

Scotland and Afghanistan are already into the semis.

Scotland not through yet technically.

They lose to Oman (who hammered HK and need a win) and Netherlands beat HK it goes down to NRR between Netherlands,Oman and Scotland.

 

[Donal Cozzie]

Ireland 160/6 beat UAE 136/7. In reality this was a demolition, UAE were 21/5 at one point, made lots of runs last 5 overs as Ireland took foot off the pedal.

Ireland and AFG through to semi's. I'll be honest this tournament has been successful already for us considering how poor we've been at t20. Mulder has been magnificent on debut, Young done well, Little too. Batting wise some problems remain, our captain in particular is not up to the standard in this format, but steps in the right diection.

Semi final is irrelevant to me now tbh, once we put up a fighting display I'll happily term this tourney a success for us.
[MENTION=135134]CricketAnalyst[/MENTION] would cry watching us play at times, today was the first time we'd made 160 in 17 t20 matches. Scarcely believable.

Anyway, some confidence being built, nice to see.

Crucial game in Group B on next, Netherlands vs HK, Netherlands lose they're knocked out I believe, unless Oman take a beating vs the Scots tomorrow.

 

[thelandofthebravepeople]

Ireland 160/6 beat UAE 136/7. In reality this was a demolition, UAE were 21/5 at one point, made lots of runs last 5 overs as Ireland took foot off the pedal.

Ireland and AFG through to semi's. I'll be honest this tournament has been successful already for us considering how poor we've been at t20. Mulder has been magnificent on debut, Young done well, Little too. Batting wise some problems remain, our captain in particular is not up to the standard in this format, but steps in the right diection.

Semi final is irrelevant to me now tbh, once we put up a fighting display I'll happily term this tourney a success for us.
[MENTION=135134]CricketAnalyst[/MENTION] would cry watching us play at times, today was the first time we'd made 160 in 17 t20 matches. Scarcely believable.

Anyway, some confidence being built, nice to see.

Crucial game in Group B on next, Netherlands vs HK, Netherlands lose they're knocked out I believe, unless Oman take a beating vs the Scots tomorrow.

Happy to see Ireland make it to Semis and happy to hear new talent is doing well. I was afraid they would lose to UAE, but they put in a solid performance.

Strong Ireland is very important to associate cricket cause.

 

[thelandofthebravepeople]

Btw Ireland did not get any ranking points for their win against Namibia since they don't have T20I status. How ridiculous.

 

[Donal Cozzie]

Goes to show the level of depth in Associate cricket nowadays. Oman obliterated HK, Netherlands beat Oman, and Netherlands currently 64/9 chasing HK's 183.

Netherlands lose this by a huge margin (which lets face it, they will now) their NRR gets hammered and they get knocked out and finish dead last in the group.

Means the Scotland vs Oman game tomorrow decides who goes through, Scotland will qualify with Netherlands losing so that means Oman/HK will go through on NRR. Oman win they guarantee qualification, if they lose a close match they may still go through.

HK's NRR is -2.67 as of now, will get a huge boost due to the hammering they're giving, if it goes above Oman's current NRR of 1.61 then Oman need to win tomorrow.

 

[Donal Cozzie]

Netherlands out, bowled put for 92. They're going home.

Need to see what the NRR of HK is, determines their chances.

 

[Thivagar]

 

[Donal Cozzie]

Oman 133 lose to Scotland 134/7 by 7 wickets with an over remaining.

Afghanistan 167/6 beat Namibia 103 ao by 64 runs

Afghanistan and Scotland top their groups. Ireland and Oman make the semi finals.

Afghanistan vs Oman 1st semi final.
Scotland vs Ireland 2nd semi final.
Followed by the final.

Tomorrow is the last day of the competition, will be gone all day so will miss most of it unfortunately but promises to be an entertaining days cricket.

 

[Donal Cozzie]

Unreal by Ireland in the semi final. 211/6 beat Scotland by 98 runs. Fantastic.

About to play AFG in the final,tourney already a huge success for me now

 

[street cricketer]

Unreal by Ireland in the semi final. 211/6 beat Scotland by 98 runs. Fantastic.

About to play AFG in the final,tourney already a huge success for me now

Brutal against the Scots.

Going to be a good final. Btw is the semi final and final going to take place in the same day..

 

[zn426]

Need more tournaments like this. All nations can play T20, so these tournaments should be happening every year.

 

[Donal Cozzie]

15,000 Afghans in the ground, impressive stuff

 

[nighthawk23]

46/4 with Rashid Khan still to come. Gg Ireland.

 

[thelandofthebravepeople]

Nightmare stuff for Ireland. 6 gone and Rashid still to bowl.

 

[thelandofthebravepeople]

Rashid to bowl now.

Ireland will not make 100.

 

[Donal Cozzie]

lol damn.

Still, AFG are a class act. Obviously sucks if we get thumped but this has still been a good tournament for us considering our awful form.

 

[Donal Cozzie]

Also have to account for the fact that Ireland are playing their second t20 match within 2 hours basically.

 

[Arham_PakFan]

Also have to account for the fact that Ireland are playing their second t20 match within 2 hours basically.

Horrible scheduling by the organisers,I must say.

 

[Donal Cozzie]

Haha, suppose it shows our inconsistency that after posting our highest total in 4 years we follow it up with the lowest

 

[Donal Cozzie]

Its a testament to how awful we've been in t20 the last while that I'm actually happy with the approach in this innings.

We went after the Afghans, failed spectacularly but better that than plodding along at a run a ball. Worked vs Scotland didnt here, thats t20 and its the approach we need, not the dross we served up vs AFG in the first game and our previous 2 years of t20 matches.

 

[thelandofthebravepeople]

I don't know why the Final could not be tomorrow to give both teams time to prepare.

 

[Boi]

Afghanistan are clearly a notch above the rest of the associates especially in these conditions. Hope they can improve their own facilities and domestic system further so their team continues to make strides.

 

[thelandofthebravepeople]

That's a huge crawd.

Stadium almost full.

1000 times more then to a Pakistan test match.

 

[thelandofthebravepeople]

Thumping win. Better luck next time Ireland.

Afghanistan can easily play competitive limited overs cricket against Pakistan. Should be invited for a series.

 

[j_kazmi]

This is great! We need more tournaments like these.

I hope they televise this somehow next year.

 

[Hawkeye]

Its a testament to how awful we've been in t20 the last while that I'm actually happy with the approach in this innings.

We went after the Afghans, failed spectacularly but better that than plodding along at a run a ball. Worked vs Scotland didnt here, thats t20 and its the approach we need, not the dross we served up vs AFG in the first game and our previous 2 years of t20 matches.

Is cricket being taken seriously by the government there?

Or it's just an autonomous cricketing body with private or ICC funding?

 

[Pakpak]

That's a huge crawd.

Stadium almost full.

1000 times more then to a Pakistan test match.

Because it is a test match and not T20s. Pakistan's ODIs and T20s are packed too.

Thumping win. Better luck next time Ireland.

Afghanistan can easily play competitive limited overs cricket against Pakistan. Should be invited for a series.

What a deluded post. Afghanistan would be get smashed against Pakistan, they are not better than West Indies or Sri Lanka, both of whom Pakistan beat regularly. It'd be anything but competitive.

 

[thelandofthebravepeople]

Because it is a test match and not T20s. Pakistan's ODIs and T20s are packed too.



What a deluded post. Afghanistan would be get smashed against Pakistan, they are not better than West Indies or Sri Lanka, both of whom Pakistan beat regularly. It'd be anything but competitive.

Pakistan is ranked nr. 8 behind Sri Lanka.

 

[Pakpak]

Pakistan is ranked nr. 8 behind Sri Lanka.

Rankings change. Pakistan beat them home and away recently the last they played against each other.

We were also behind West Indies a while back, yet smashed them recently very easily. And if youre going to argue the ranking points then Pakistan are also ranked above Afghanistan. Afghanistan would be beaten by all teams from 1-10 in LOIs. Hence calm down with the hysterics.

 

[thelandofthebravepeople]

Rankings change. Pakistan beat them home and away recently the last they played against each other.

We were also behind West Indies a while back, yet smashed them recently very easily. And if youre going to argue the ranking points then Pakistan are also ranked above Afghanistan. Afghanistan would be beaten by all teams from 1-10 in LOIs. Hence calm down with the hysterics.

I think you are the hysteric one. I just said Afghanistan can be competitive in limited overs games. They did really well at the T20 World cup in patches. You need to relax. The Pakistani team is no world beater. It's one of the weakest Pakistan team in a long time.

 

[Pakpak]

I think you are the hysteric one. I just said Afghanistan can be competitive in limited overs games. They did really well at the T20 World cup in patches. You need to relax. The Pakistani team is no world beater. It's one of the weakest Pakistan team in a long time.

....and to which I replied that if teams like Windies are easily getting beaten without any competition against us then Afghanistan has no chance. By competitive you mean they would run us close, maybe in your universe. Not in the realistic one we presently reside in.

I am not the one getting hysterical, you are. Afghanistan win and the first thing you do is bring Pakistan into it.

Pakistan is weak at the moment, that doesn't mean every minnow out there has a chance. In ODIs Afghans have no chance, in T20s maybe 1 in 10. Bangladesh, who have made amazing strides, lost easily to us in the recent WC too. And they'd beat Afghanistan all day long.

 

[thelandofthebravepeople]

....and to which I replied that if teams like Windies are easily getting beaten without any competition against us then Afghanistan has no chance. By competitive you mean they would run us close, maybe in your universe. Not in the realistic one we presently reside in.

I am not the one getting hysterical, you are. Afghanistan win and the first thing you do is bring Pakistan into it.

Pakistan is weak at the moment, that doesn't mean every minnow out there has a chance. In ODIs Afghans have no chance, in T20s maybe 1 in 10. Bangladesh, who have made amazing strides, lost easily to us in the recent WC too. And they'd beat Afghanistan all day long.

Pakistan easily beat WI? You are talking as if Pakistan is trashing WI right and left. They won a series in UAE 3-0,that too with WI missing key players. but before that they won the T20 WC as well.

Bangladesh can easily beat Pakistan at home. I think a series between the two countries will be pretty close.
Afghanistan recently played BD for a close fought series that BD won 2-1.

 

[Pakpak]

Pakistan easily beat WI? You are talking as if Pakistan is trashing WI right and left. They won a series in UAE 3-0,that too with WI missing key players. but before that they won the T20 WC as well.

Bangladesh can easily beat Pakistan at home. I think a series between the two countries will be pretty close.
Afghanistan recently played BD for a close fought series that BD won 2-1.

Bangladesh could easily beat Pakistan in ODIs but then again in Bangladesh they beat SA and India comfortably as well. T20s we did lose to them however we won the latest encounter in WC easily, could call that an improvement. We are trashing WI left and right. The last time when they didn't lose to us in a series was in 1992 (2-2). Same goes for Sri Lanka, who even though we are poor, got beaten in the last 2 series, the most recent one in Sri Lanka. The one T20 we had against England as we thrashed them very comfortably.

Just because we are poor doesn't mean any minnow winning a T20 competition can beat us, no idea why you decided to troll and bring Pakistan into it needlessly. There is no chance Afghanistan would last the full 50 overs against us, never mind being competitive. The gulf is simply too great right now. It'll take Afghanistan a decade at most to reach a good level after they establish a full domestic cricket circuit.

 

[Thivagar]

It was obvious that Afghanistan was going to destroy Ireland. Associates needed Afghanistan's victory to show the world that super minnows can become a threat to Test members. If Ireland had beaten Afghanistan, then Afghanistan's rise would have been downplayed and they would have been declared as "just a minnow". I personally wanted Ireland to lose as Donal doesn't reply to my comments anymore and that hurts my feelings.

 

[Donal Cozzie]

Is cricket being taken seriously by the government there?

Or it's just an autonomous cricketing body with private or ICC funding?

Well other sports like rugby,football, gaelic football and hurling are all more popular and thus get more funding.

But cricket does receive funding from the governments of Ireland and Northern Ireland, and the all Ireland Sports Council have provided funding so Cricket Ireland can build our first ever outdoor performance centre in Dublin.

CI was the first ever private cricketing body in the world I think, although obviously as it receives government funding it needs to be transparent and open with its expenses and accounts so that its clear taxpayer money isn't being misused. Its a professional administration has to be said.

So its a private body that gets government funding as all sports here with sufficient numbers and success do receive money from our government.

 

[MenInG]

http://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/38693584

Ireland collapsed to a 10-wicket defeat by Afghanistan in the final of the Desert Twenty20 Challenge in Dubai.

Ireland were all out for 71 in 13.2 overs, with Paul Stirling (17) one of only two players to reach double figures, and Mohammad Nabi taking 4-10.

Afghanistan chased down the target in only 7.5 overs, Mohammad Shahzad hitting nine fours and a six in racing to 52 not out from 40 balls.

Ireland had thumped Scotland by 98 wins in their semi-final earlier in the day.

Gary Wilson top scored for Ireland with 65 not out, while opener Stirling made 60 as they set the Scots a target of 212.

Scotland fell well short despite the efforts of Kyle Coetzer (40) and Matthew Cross (35) as they were bowled out for 113 with nearly five overs to spare, as young leg-spinner Jacob Mulder took 4-16.

Afghanistan won their semi-final against Oman by eight wickets.

Greg Thompson with 10 not out was the only other Ireland player to make double figures against Afghanistan in the final, with Amir Hamza, Fareed Ahmad and Karim Janat taking two wickets apiece.

An innings of 17 not out from Nawroz Mangal helped Afghanistan to victory with 73 balls remaining.