Ireland fall to Afghan defeat
Ireland's bid to win a place in the ICC Twenty20 World Championships has suffered a major blow after they were beaten by 13 runs by Afghanistan in Dubai on Tuesday.
Tuesday, 09 February 2010
The Irish team, who went into the qualification tournament as favourites to top their group, won the toss and opted to bat first, allowing the Afghan team to rack up a score of 139-8 after their 20 overs.
However, Ireland could only manage a score of 126 in reply to the Afghans.
Captain William Porterfield top-scored with 35 runs from 23 balls at the top of the batting order, but just three other batsmen managed to make double figures, with only Paul Stirling scoring more than 20 runs.
Ireland are due to play the USA in their next group qualifier on Wednesday, and will then face Scotland in their final group game on Thursday.
The Americans beat Scotland by six wickets in their opening game.
© UTV News