Afghanistan on the world stage in cricket

Stan and deliver: Ashgar Stanikzai, the Afghanistan all-rounder, sends Mahendra Singh Dhoni behind the wicket a message of his aggressive intent in an innings of 30. Photo: Independent Newspaper 

Afghanistan 115-8 India 116-3 (India win by seven wickets): MCC see faith rewarded as the world game's most unlikely newcomers show great promise in losing against India

It is such a joy to read the papers, scan the websites and to watch on TV, Afghanistan getting good publicity for its cricketing skills.

Afghanistan made their debut in international cricket at St Lucia yesterday, which was remarkable, as Dr Johnson said of seeing a dog walking on it hind legs, because you are surprised to find it done at all. Less than a decade ago Afghanistan did not have a cricket team. It had some cricketers but most of them were stuck in refugee camps in northern Pakistan, after their families had fled from the Russian invasion in 1979. When they came home they brought cricket with them, and they have proved remarkably quick learners



Robin Marlar, when he was President of MCC in 2005-06 took up their cause, becoming one of the Godfathers of Afghan cricket, and he detected early on qualities of innocence and physical ability, a lack of inhibition backed by fearlessness in Afghanistani cricketers. They needed all these qualities yesterday on a sunny morning at the Beausejour ground in St Lucia on the second day of the World T20 tournament, and they did not disgrace themselves.

India, the experienced masters of the T20 game, won by seven wickets, needing fewer than 15 overs to reach the target. But the performance needs to be seen in the context of the past two years. In 2008 Afghanistan were admitted to the fifth division of the leagues organised for ICC affiliated and associated members There is plenty of competition at this level, and they moved smoothly up the leagues, just failing to qualify for next year's World Cup, but beating Abu Dhabi to qualify for the T20 competition in the West Indies. Thanks to Stephen Fay of the Independent for permission to run this article.

Ahmadzai inspires Afghanistan win

Hameed Hasan (right)is pumped up after dismissing Niall O'Brien

Afghanistan pulled off their second win in the Intercontinental Cup, defeating defending champions Ireland by seven wickets to propel themselves to the top of the table.

Both teams had talked before the game about the respect they had for each other and in a fluctuating contest, Afghanistan grabbed the initiative to drive home a victory that would have seemed unlikely when Ireland began the final day 39 runs behind with all their second-innings wickets intact.

Paceman Dawlat Ahmadzai proved the difference as he burst through the top order on his way to his maiden five-wicket haul. He struck in the third over of the day to remove a becalmed William Porterfield caught behind for 14 before castling Andrew Cusack in his next over for 4. By the time he bowled Gary Wilson for 27, Ireland were tottering on 57 for three.

Offspinner Mohammad Nabi (4 for 33) then stepped into the action, taking three quick wickets with probing, accurate bowling to reduce Ireland to 101 for seven. Some lust hitting from Trent Johnson and diligent blocking John Mooney, who made 18 from 76 balls, carried the score up to 141 before a final wicket stand of 59 between Johnson and Peter Connell took the score to 202. Johnson ended up unbeaten on 63 to leave Afghanistan with 137 to get.

An early wicket for Johnson gave Ireland a sliver but a half century from Noor Ali and a 36-run partnership from wickkeeper Mohammad Shahzad and captain Nowroz Mengal guided Afghanistan home. It's a remarkable result for Afghanistan who's continued progress in international cricket has been one of the most cheering aspects of the game in recent months.

Afghanistan beat Ireland at cricket

This is an historic day for Afghanistan cricket with their national side defeating Ireland by seven wickets.

Ireland 405 & 202

Afghanistan 474 & 137/3 (31.3 ov)

Afghanistan won by 7 wickets

Afghans take 2nd day honours

I never thought I would see the day when an Afghan cricket team, plays an international against Ireland, and is now leading after the first innings. Well done Afghanistan!

January 22, 2010

A Afghanistan 263 for 3 (Mangal 84, Shahzad 60*, Noori 44*) trail Ireland 405 (Porterfield 78, Shenwari 4-75) by 142 runs
Scorecard



Afghanistan seized the initiative on the second day of their Intercontinental Cup game against Ireland at Dambulla, reaching 263 for 3 at stumps with Shabir Noori, on 44 not out, and Mohammad Shahzad, unbeaten on 60 from only 62 balls, holding firm.

The pair came together with the game finely balanced at 178 for 3, and added 85 in just under 20 overs to wrest the ascendancy back from Ireland after Andre Botha had ended Noori and captain Nowroz Mangal's 105-run partnership. Mangal had looked set for a maiden first-class hundred before he edged Botha through to Niall O'Brien behind the stumps to depart for 84.

Afghanistan had made a good start to their innings earlier, with Karim Sadiq and Noor Ali putting together 72 before Gary Kidd and Peter Connell struck in quick succession to remove both openers and leave Afghanistan wobbling at 74 for 2. Ireland had to wait 33 overs for their next breakthrough, however, with Noori and Mangal obstinate at the crease.

The highlight of the morning was John Mooney's unbeaten 58, which broke his duck after he had failed to score in his first two first-class innings. Ireland had resumed at 324 for 7, and were soon eight wickets down as legspinner Samiullah Shenwari snapped up Trent Johnston to claim his fourth scalp of the innings. Kidd scratched around for 18 balls before edging Hameed Hasan, but Connell was more enterprising, cracking four boundaries in his 18 before having his stumps rattled by Shapoor Zadran. His tenacious 66-run partnership with Mooney, who accumulated runs steadily at the other end, carried Ireland past 400, which had looked like a sterling effort.

The Irish badly need a victory in this game after drawing against Kenya and Scotland, but that is looking increasingly unlikely with Afghanistan making a fist of things today to build a foundation for a massive first innings total.


Ireland 405 & 1/0 (0.1 ov)

Afghanistan 474

Ireland won the toss and elected to bat

Day 3
ICC Intercontinental Cup
First-class match | 2009/10 season
Played at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium (neutral venue)
21,22,23,24 January 2010 (4-day match)

Ireland 1st innings R M B 4s 6s SR
WTS Porterfield* c Samiullah Shenwari b Hameed Hasan 78 175 134 7 2 58.20
45.4 caught Samiullah Shenwari 170/2

GC Wilson c Hameed Hasan b Mohammad Nabi 53 114 89 9 0 59.55
28.2 caught Hameed Hasan 120/1

AR Cusack c †Mohammad Shahzad b Samiullah Shenwari 39 96 92 6 0 42.39
54.2 caught †Mohammad Shahzad 203/3

NJ O'Brien† c †Mohammad Shahzad b Karim Sadiq 66 156 119 9 0 55.46
90.1 caught †Mohammad Shahzad 316/6

AC Botha st †Mohammad Shahzad b Samiullah Shenwari 0 7 7 0 0 0.00
56.3 stumped †Mohammad Shahzad 203/4

KJ O'Brien lbw b Samiullah Shenwari 16 53 35 2 0 45.71
66.4 231/5

AR White c Karim Sadiq b Hameed Hasan 43 90 89 6 0 48.31
93.4 caught Karim Sadiq 323/7

JF Mooney not out 58 105 90 9 0 64.44

DT Johnston lbw b Samiullah Shenwari 2 23 20 0 0 10.00
100.4 328/8

GE Kidd c †Mohammad Shahzad b Hameed Hasan 4 17 18 0 0 22.22
105.2 caught †Mohammad Shahzad 339/9

P Connell b Shapoor Zadran 18 51 28 4 0 64.28
117.6 bowled 405/10

Extras (lb 13, w 2, nb 13) 28

Total (all out; 118 overs; 404 mins) 405 (3.43 runs per over)
Fall of wickets1-120 (Wilson, 28.2 ov), 2-170 (Porterfield, 45.4 ov), 3-203 (Cusack, 54.2 ov), 4-203 (Botha, 56.3 ov), 5-231 (KJ O'Brien, 66.4 ov), 6-316 (NJ O'Brien, 90.1 ov), 7-323 (White, 93.4 ov), 8-328 (Johnston, 100.4 ov), 9-339 (Kidd, 105.2 ov), 10-405 (Connell, 117.6 ov)

Bowling O M R W Econ
Dawlat Ahmadzai 11 2 32 0 2.90

Shapoor Zadran 10 1 33 1 3.30
117.6 to Connell, bowled 405/10


Hameed Hasan 24 4 91 3 3.79 (13nb)
45.4 to Porterfield, caught Samiullah Shenwari 170/2


93.4 to White, caught Karim Sadiq 323/7


105.2 to Kidd, caught †Mohammad Shahzad 339/9


Noor Ali 2 0 21 0 10.50 (1w)

Mohammad Nabi 27 3 102 1 3.77
28.2 to Wilson, caught Hameed Hasan 120/1


Samiullah Shenwari 27 5 75 4 2.77
54.2 to Cusack, caught †Mohammad Shahzad 203/3


56.3 to Botha, stumped †Mohammad Shahzad 203/4


66.4 to KJ O'Brien, 231/5


100.4 to Johnston, 328/8


Karim Sadiq 15 5 31 1 2.06 (1w)
90.1 to NJ O'Brien, caught †Mohammad Shahzad 316/6


Nowroz Mangal 2 0 7 0 3.50


Afghanistan 1st innings R M B 4s 6s SR
Karim Sadiq b Kidd 19 75 46 4 0 41.30
18.2 bowled 72/1

Noor Ali c †NJ O'Brien b Connell 53 89 71 9 0 74.64
21.3 caught †NJ O'Brien 74/2

Shabir Noori c KJ O'Brien b White 85 331 234 10 0 36.32
101.1 caught KJ O'Brien 342/5

Nowroz Mangal* c †NJ O'Brien b Botha 84 118 114 16 0 73.68
54.1 caught †NJ O'Brien 178/3

Mohammad Shahzad† c †NJ O'Brien b Botha 88 167 121 15 0 72.72
93.1 caught †NJ O'Brien 325/4

Asghar Stanikzai b Johnston 39 122 96 5 0 40.62
124.4 bowled 414/6

Mohammad Nabi c Mooney b White 64 68 127 4 2 50.39
143.1 caught Mooney 461/8

Samiullah Shenwari lbw b Botha 19 46 35 2 0 54.28
136.4 453/7

Dawlat Ahmadzai not out 7 61 48 0 0 14.58

Hameed Hasan c †NJ O'Brien b White 7 17 16 0 1 43.75
147.6 caught †NJ O'Brien 468/9

Shapoor Zadran lbw b White 2 21 15 0 0 13.33
153.2 474/10

Extras (b 1, lb 3, nb 3) 7

Total (all out; 153.2 overs; 574 mins) 474 (3.09 runs per over)
Fall of wickets1-72 (Karim Sadiq, 18.2 ov), 2-74 (Noor Ali, 21.3 ov), 3-178 (Nowroz Mangal, 54.1 ov), 4-325 (Mohammad Shahzad, 93.1 ov), 5-342 (Shabir Noori, 101.1 ov), 6-414 (Asghar Stanikzai, 124.4 ov), 7-453 (Samiullah Shenwari, 136.4 ov), 8-461 (Mohammad Nabi, 143.1 ov), 9-468 (Hameed Hasan, 147.6 ov), 10-474 (Shapoor Zadran, 153.2 ov)

Bowling O M R W Econ
P Connell 21 9 52 1 2.47
21.3 to Noor Ali, caught †NJ O'Brien 74/2


DT Johnston 26 5 88 1 3.38 (2nb)
124.4 to Asghar Stanikzai, bowled 414/6


AR Cusack 11 1 56 0 5.09

GE Kidd 24 8 68 1 2.83
18.2 to Karim Sadiq, bowled 72/1


JF Mooney 7 1 38 0 5.42 (1nb)

AR White 31.2 8 99 4 3.15
101.1 to Shabir Noori, caught KJ O'Brien 342/5


143.1 to Mohammad Nabi, caught Mooney 461/8


147.6 to Hameed Hasan, caught †NJ O'Brien 468/9


153.2 to Shapoor Zadran, 474/10


AC Botha 21 6 44 3 2.09
54.1 to Nowroz Mangal, caught †NJ O'Brien 178/3


93.1 to Mohammad Shahzad, caught †NJ O'Brien 325/4


136.4 to Samiullah Shenwari, 453/7


KJ O'Brien 12 3 25 0 2.08


Ireland 2nd innings R M B 4s 6s SR
WTS Porterfield* not out 0 0 1 0 0 0.00

GC Wilson not out 0 0 0 0 0 -

Extras (w 1) 1

Total (0 wickets; 0.1 overs) 1 (6.00 runs per over)
To bat AR Cusack, P Connell, AR White, DT Johnston, AC Botha, GE Kidd, JF Mooney, KJ O'Brien, NJ O'Brien†

Bowling O M R W Econ
Shapoor Zadran 0.1 0 1 0 6.00 (1w)

Match details
Toss Ireland, who chose to bat
Points Afghanistan 6*, Ireland 0*

First-class debuts Karim Sadiq and Shabir Noori (Afghanistan)

Umpires R Martinesz and TH Wijewardene
Match referee Ishtiaq Ahmed (Pakistan)
Reserve umpire SSK Gallage

Close of play
21 Jan day 1 - Ireland 1st innings 324/7 (JF Mooney 5*, DT Johnston 0*, 98 ov)
22 Jan day 2 - Afghanistan 1st innings 263/3 (Shabir Noori 44*, Mohammad Shahzad 60*, 74 ov)