Nabi, Shahzad star as Afghanistan beat Ireland by 28 runs in third T20I

Afghanistan completed a clean sweep against Ireland, winning their third and final Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket match by 28 runs here on Sunday.

A blistering knock of 89 by Mohammad Nabi and a quickfire 72 by Mohammad Shahzad in the lower order helped Afghanistan post 233/8 in 20 overs.

For Ireland, Kevin O'Brien scalped four for 45 runs while Jacob Mulder took two wickets for 32.

Chasing the mammoth 234-run target, Ireland started the match on a good note as openers Paul Stirling (49) and Stuart Thompson (43) slammed 65 runs in 4.2 overs. But the magnitude of the target was big and Ireland were bowled out for 205 in the 20 overs.

Apart from wicketkeeper-batsman Gary Wilson (59), who kept the Ireland hopes alive by scoring at a strike-rate of over 170, no other batsman stepped up to the challenge.

Wilson's 39-ball knock was laced with five boundaries and two sixes. He was dismissed spinner Rashid Khan.

For Afghanistan, Hamza (2 for 39) and Karim Janat (2 for 34) made the crucial strikes upfront, while Rashid (3 for 28) cleaned the lower-order batsmen to clinch the match.

--IANS

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