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Will anyone be watching this? I will try to catch as much of this as I can and hope it will be exciting.

Irish boys will be confident after drawing the ODI series 2-2. Will be interesting to see how it goes.

Interesting to note this is a 5 day Test, so thankfully no more of the 4-day bullshit.

Looking forward to this, Ireland have shown they can compete against the Afghanistan spinners and even dominate them, so this should be a great Test.

The thing about this matchup is that Ireland will fight tooth and nail for the entirety of the Test, Afghanistan will likely have multiple batting collapses but they could win the game in one session on the back of Rashid Khan.

Very surprised Mujeeb was dropped

Everytime I see Rashid Khan listed at 20 it doesn't half annoy me.
Same with Mujeeb.
I'm backing Ireland here to the hilt, hoping they can put Afghanistan in their place.

sloandog wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 14, 2019 8:36 am

Everytime I see Rashid Khan listed at 20 it doesn't half annoy me.
Same with Mujeeb.
I'm backing Ireland here to the hilt, hoping they can put Afghanistan in their place.

Afghanistan used to be my second favorite side, but now I'm not so sure. That underdog factor has worn off IMO. I think I might actually be rooting for the Irish here. Although in a hypothetical World Cup matchup, I'm sure to be backing AFG in a clash vs Ireland.

Ireland from 37-0 to 55-5.

Rashid Khan 2 wickets in his first 3 balls.

Methinks Cameron Dow will be a handful on this surface, especially if Afghanistan has to bat last.

Dockrell and Mcbrine could also get into the act. And Stirling.

Afghanistan need 118 runs to win with 9 wickets in hand, the pitch still looks good for batting so Afghanistan should win this easily. BUT there’s always a chance of a collapse especially from Afghanistan so Ireland are still a chance.

I think Ireland will look back on this Test and kick themselves for being too negative with their selections, they seemed to hedge their bets with ‘bits and pieces’ players. Can’t see why Rankin was left out? His pace and bounce would have caused Afghanistan issues and looking at McBrine, Dockrell & Cameron-Dow they’re very similar bowlers not sure why they needed two of Dockrell & Cameron-Dow? Surely one was enough?

Stuart Thompson was probably deserving of selection since he did well against Pakistan (also took 3 wickets in the 1st innings) but I think Rankin could have won them the match.

Also this keeper they’ve got can’t bat for shit.

From what I’ve seen so far I still think Zimbabwe should beat both these sides in Tests.

Well done to the Afghans. Convincing win after some reasonable bits of resistance from the Irish. Rankin wouldn't have done anything on this pitch to be fair, and he's a very average bowler to begin with. Maybe on a pacey surface he might cause some problems with his height and bounce.

The game was lost with Ireland's top order collapses in both innings. Really expected more from them given their vast county cricket pedigrees. But these conditions are tough for non Asian teams that play spin poorly, and then have spinners who can't consistently put the ball in the right area.

Ireland would most likely win in Irish conditions, given how much Pakistan struggled there. Afghanistan would most likely find a way to beat Zimbabwe home and away though. They really don't enjoy losing to ZIM. Ireland would struggle against Zimbabwe in Tests. AFG > ZIM > IRE in Tests at the moment I think.

I think Afghanistan's next Test is in Bangladesh in October and Ireland will be hosting Bangladesh next summer (2020).

I’d take Rankin over any Bangladesh Test bowler

http://m.espncricinfo.com/ireland/conte ... 24599.html

Very very good record in county cricket

The Afghanistan seamer got wickets and so did Thompson so I think Rankin could have made a difference.

Do you think Afghanistan would beat Bangladesh? Because remember Zimbabwe beat Bangladesh in their own back yard so going off your ‘logic’ that Afghanistan would beat Zimbabwe ‘home and away’ I guess Afghanistan beats Bangladesh ?