Afg vs Ire Test

AFGHANISTAN VS IRELAND FIRST TEST 2019  DEHRADUN

Afghanistan vs Ireland T20 Series

The T20 series between Afghanistan and Ireland was a completely one sided affair. Afghanistan won the series 3-0. The Irish batsmen found it hard to encounter the spin attack of Afghanistan. Muhammed Nabi showcased his all round  skills with both ball and bat and was the player of series in T20. Hazratullah Zazai scored a 62 ball 162 to crush the Irish attack and Afghanistan scored a record breaking 278/3 in 20 overs. For Ireland, Stirling Kevin Oberine and Dockrell contributed with the bat. Dockrell showed that he was reliable with both bat and ball. 

Afghanistan vs Ireland ODI Series

After being  completely defeated in the T20 series, Ireland staged a strong comeback in the ODI series. The series was drawn 2-2. The Irish batsmen showed more maturity and application than in T20 series. Paul Stirling, Balbarine, Dockrell contributed to the Irish comeback. Stirling had scores of 89 and 70 among the 4 Innings. Balbarine scored a gritty 145 in the second ODI. Dockrell once again continued his form from T20 series and made some decent scores. 

For Afghanistan their Captain Ashgar Afghan scored the bulk of runs. He made scores of 75, 54 and 82 in the last 3 ODIs and seems to be in great form. He was retired hurt in the last ODI. Muhammed Nabi and Rashid Khan also seems to be in form with the ball as well as with the bat. Muhammed Nabi can rise to higher ranks among the all rounders. Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman failed to make some great impression with the ball and was dropped from the test squad. Aftab Alam picked 4 wickets in the fourth ODI to essay an Afghan victory.   

Afghanistan vs Ireland Test Series

After an eventful T20 and ODI series Afghanistan and Ireland move on to the domain of test cricket. Before this, both teams have played one test match each. Ireland played Pakistan in their home turf. In the lone test match, Ireland was defeated, but not before a great fight. In that test match, Ireland had even restricted Pakistan to 159/6. But Pakistan went on to make 310/9 in first innings. After a dismal first innings, Ireland made 339 in second innings, thanks to a great century  by Kevin Obrein. But Afghanistan eventually won the test match on the fifth day. Afghanistan played their only test match against India. They had nothing to boast about their performance as they were handed an Innings defeat. They could only make 109 and 103 in the two innings after India had scored 474 in their first Innings. Much was expected from the Afghanistan spinners but all went in vain. 

Ireland and Afghanistan meet each other in the first test match of the series and it is expected to be a battle between Afghanistan spinners and Irish batsmen. Muhammed Nabi, Ashgar Afghan, Rashid Khan will be the key players for Afghanistan. They have included two spinners Salamkheil and Zahir Khan in their squad after the duo had some great domestic performance. 

Ireland would rely on Porterfield, Balberine, Kevin Obrien for some turn around in their fortunes. Dockrell and Simi Singh are their frontline spinners. Boyd Rankin, Tim Murtagh are expected to lead the pace bowling attack. 

Team News:

Mujeb-Ur-rahman has been dropped from the Afghanistan squad and has included Zahir Khan and Salamkheil. 

Key Players:

Afghanistan:

Asghar Afghan

Muhammed Nabi

Rashid Khan

Mohammed Shahzad

Rahmat shah

Ireland:

William Porterfield

Kevin Obrein

George Dockrell

Boyd Rankin
Andrew Balbirine

The Dream Team

Mohammed Shahzad

William Porterfield

Rahmat shah

Andrew Balbirine

Kevin Obrein

Paul Stirling

Asghar Afghan

Boyd Rankin

Rashid Khan

Boyd Rankin

George Dockrell

Choice for Captain and Vice Captain

Paul Stirling

Rashid Khan

Andrew Balbirine

Asghar Afghan

SL VS SA

SOUTH AFRICA TOUR OF SRILANKA 2019 FOURTH ODI

Srilanka had stunned the cricketing world when they sealed the two match test series 2-0 against South Africa. Kusal Perera scored an unbeaten 153 in the fourth innings to register a 1 wicket stunning win in the first test match. But both Srilanka and Perera had failed to repeat the heroics in the ODI series. South Africa had won first 3 matches of the series and has already sealed the series. Srilanka meets South Africa for the fourth ODI on 13/03/2019 at Port Elizabeth. For Srilanka, Oshada Fernando has been in decent form compared to his fellow team mates. He has scored 49, 31 and 25 in the three match so far. Other than him, Kusal Mendis is the only Srilankan batsman who has scored with some decent form. He scored 60 and 41 in first and third ODI respectively. In bowling department, Srilanka needs to find someone who can restrict the scoring rate as well  as take some quick wickets. Malinga has been impressive in parts but need to be more consistent. Isru Udana, considered to be a T20 specialist was introduced in the third ODI. He took two wickets but give away 50 runs in 8 overs. 

South African batsmen seem to have made amendments after the test series and are found to be in great form. Quintone deKock  is making the Srilankan bowling attack look ordinary. He had scores of 81, 94 and 121 so far in the ODI series. Duplesis too joined the party with the scores of 112 and 57 in first two ODIs. Reeza Hendricks failed to make any impression. In bowling department, Ngidi and Tahir took majority of wickets and the Srilankan batsmen found it very hard to handle that. The youngster Nortje impressed with his pace. 

Team News

1. Hashim Amla will miss the next two ODI despite him being selected for the same due to his father's illness. 

2. J.P. Duminy and Markram has been included in the SA squad for the last two ODI.

3. Mulder has been removed from S.A Squad.Dale Steyn may play.

4. Kusal Perera may miss the next ODI due to hamstring injury.

Key Players

SRILANKA

Kusal Mendis

Oshada Fernando

Thisara Perera
Lasith Malinga

Isru Udana

SOUTH AFRICA

Quinton DeKock

Faf Duplessis

Aiden Markram

Nortje

Dale Steyn

THE DREAM TEAM

Quinton DeKock

Faf Duplessis

Aiden Markram

Kusal Mendis

Oshada Fernando

Thisara Perera

J.P Duminy

Lasith Malinga

Nortje

Dale Steyn

L. Ngidi

Choice for Captain and Vice Captain

Quinton DeKock

Faf Duplessis

Aiden Markram

Thisara Perera

IND VS AUS T20 REVIEW FEB 2019

India vs Australia A Review of T20 February 2019

Australian Captain Aaron Finch might not be happy with his performances in the two T20 matches played against India at Vizag and Bangalore. His scorecard read 1 & 8 after the T 20 series. But he will be mighty pleased for Australia registered their first T20 series win on the Indian soil. Australia registered a 2-0 victory in the two match T20 series against the mighty Indians. The scorecard though doesn’t give a complete picture of the scenario. Australia did made a clean sweep. But they do have things to ponds upon. The form of their captain is giving headache to the team management. Recently coach Justin LANGER expressed his faith in capability of Aaron Finch and expected him to be among runs soon. Australian victory was scripted mainly by the performance of Glen Maxwell. Maxwell seems to be in great touch. He scored a match winning half century at Vizag in a comparatively low scoring match. He followed it with a outstanding century at chinnaswamy stadium. His score included 7 boundaries and 9 sixes which help Australia to achieve a target of 191 with ease. D Arcy Shot is also a good recent find for Australia. He seems to be in decent form and scored some valuable runs. The problem for Australia arises from the fact that none other than Short and Maxwell contributed with bat for Australia. In  bowling department , Coulter Nile, Behrendott, Zampa performed decently. Kane Richardson who had a great bigbash season didn’t play due to injury. Coulter Nile Picked up 3 wickets in first T20 and was adjusted  as man of match.

India was in a mindset of experiments ahead of the world cup. Kohli wants to test some of the youngsters before aanouncing the final World Cup squad. It could be said that India never used the main squad for both T20.  Vijay Shankar, Markanda, Umesh Yadav, Sidhart Kaul, K.L. Rahul were all given a chance to showcase their talent. K.L Rahul just grabbed the opportunity and made most of it. He made a half century in first T20 and followed it with a well made 47 in second match. Kohli as usual was in good touch and scored 24 and 72 in two matches. Rohit Sharma and Dhawan were found to be out of touch a bit and that can cause a problem on two for India. India has managed to win most games due to great performances from top 4. Dhoni was looked upon with great interest as this might be the last international T20 series played by the veteran, if he retires after the world cup 2019. Dhoni made 29 and a blistering 40 to take his tally to 69 in this series. Pant failed to capitalize on the given opportunity to make his position solid in team. None the less he gets another chance in ODI, given that Dinesh Karthik is not in the ODI squard. In bowling as usual Jasprith Bumrah was outstanding. He picked 3/16 in first match. But failed to impress in second game. Vijay Shanker bowled 4 overs in second game and picked 2 wickets. He is another prospect as an all rounder and can go the distance. ODI series against Australia is the last chance for players to make an impression and get into the world cup squard. India captain Virat Kohli said that performance in IPL won’t be a benchmark for selection for world cup. Lets wait and watch the performance.