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Afghanistan
Ireland
In international cricket, Afghanistan will host Ireland in UAE for a one-off Test fixture. 3-match ODI series, and a 3-match T20 series starting Wednesday. The series will start with a Test fixture between the two which is scheduled to take place at Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
Afghanistan is coming to UAE after witnessing a T20 series loss against Sri Lanka in an away series. The hosts are still in the process of learning the red-ball format techniques but a Test fixture will be a real test of their potential.
Ireland is coming back in action after a rest of almost 2 months. The last time they played against Zimbabwe in an away series they won a 3-match ODI series by 2-0.
Ireland has an experienced batting unit who will get the benefit of Afghanistanβs weak bowling attack.
The betting tip is...
Ireland will score above 50.5 runs in the fall of their first wicket
64 %
36 %
AfghanistanIrelandAfghanistan played their last Test fixture against Sri Lanka in the 1st week of February. The fixture went against Afghanistan and they witnessed a disappointing loss.
The hosts are expected to be led by Hashmatullah Shahidi and Ibrahim Zadran, Noor Ali, and Rahmat Shah will be expected to open the game. Rahmat will be the key player at the top order as he had a good outing against Sri Lanka. With skipper, Shahidi, Nasir Jamal and Qais Ahmed will be part of the middle order.
In the bowling unit, Naveed Zadran will be expected to give an early advantage to the team. He did a fair job against the Lankan batting unit last time. With Zadran, Nijat Masood, Mohammad Saleem, and Zia-ur-Rehman are also expected to be part of the team.
Hashmatullah Shahidi, Ibrahim Zadran, and Naveed Zadran are the key players in the team.
Predicted Lineup: Hashmatullah Shahidi, Ibrahim Zadran, Noor Ali Zadran, Nasir Jamal, Ikram Alikhil, Qais Ahmad, Zia ur Rehman, Mohammad Saleem Safi, Naveed Zadran, Nijat Masood, Rahmat Shah
Ireland's squad will be fully confident as they dominated Zimbabwe in their previous tour and will be eyeing to continue the momentum. However, when it comes to the red-ball format, the team struggled in their previous fixture which was against England in June 2023.
Andrew Balbirine is expected to lead the squad and he will have James McCollum and Peter Moor in the opening unit. Harry Tector will be expected to be part of the middle order with Paul Stirling and Lorcan Tucker.
On the bowling front, the team will be dependent on Mark Adair and Fionn Hand for a positive start with the new ball. They will also have Graham Hume, Curtis Campher, and Andy McBrine in the team.
Andy Balbirnie, Mark Adair, and Harry Tector are the key players in the team.
Predicted Lineup: Curtis Campher, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Andy Balbirnie, Mark Adair, George Dockrell, Craig Young, Peter Moor, Matthew Foster, Graham Hume, Fionn Hand
We are in for an absolute thriller between the two teams. They both carry very little experience of the red-ball format but their motivation will be high to display a positive performance. Afghanistan is without their experienced bowling unit and hence they will be mostly dependent on their batting unit to win the match.
Ireland, on the other hand, has the availability of all the players and they have a well-balanced team. We predict a win for Ireland in the Test fixture against Afghanistan.
