Sport
Ireland announce squad for South Africa, Afghanistan T20Is
Ireland on Wednesday announced their squad for the two T20Is against South Africa as well as the first three games of the five-match series against Afghanistan in August 2022.
The selectors have kept faith in the group that played the three-match T20I series against New Zealand recently by retaining the same 14-member squad for the upcoming series against South Africa (two matches) and Afghanistan (three of the five matches).
Despite being whitewashed 3-0 at home by New Zealand, there were several positives for Ireland, including the lower-order batting form of Mark Adair and Curtis Campher. Paul Stirling gave yet another glimpse of his white-ball exploits with a 29-ball 40 in the final T20I, the ICC reported.
Amongst the bowlers, Josh Little finished as the highest wicket-taker in the series with eight wickets in three games including a four-for in the second T20I.
Squad: Andrew Balbirnie (Captain), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Stephen Doheny, Fionn Hand, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Craig Young
Speaking on the squad selection, Chair of National Men’s Selectors Andrew White said: “We are now getting down to the final stages of our preparations as we build towards the Men’s T20 World Cup in October.
“The squad has faced two high-quality opponents in recent weeks, in India and New Zealand, and have stern tests ahead against South Africa and Afghanistan.
“We believe, while the results have not gone our way, the brand of cricket that [head coach] Heinrich Malan is instilling in the squad is showing positive signs and the players are beginning to equip themselves well as they build towards the World Cup in Australia.
“We have, however, sought to give ourselves a level of selection flexibility later in the Afghan series, and will announce a squad for the final two T20Is of that series in due course.”
The upcoming series against South Africa and Afghanistan will be the dress rehearsal for Ireland going into the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup later this year. After failing to make it to the Super 12 last year in Oman and UAE, Ireland will be eager to make a mark later this year in Australia.
This year, they are pitted against Scotland, West Indies and Zimbabwe in Group B in the First Round that begins on 16 October.
Competing in their first AFC Futsal Asian Cup, Afghanistan have concluded a fairy tale tournament by edging the Kyrgyz Republic to reach the FIFA Futsal World Cup.
Four second-half goals guided Afghanistan to a 5-3 win and the final 24-strong field for Uzbekistan 2024 is now set.
Unknown at continental level at the start of the month, Afghanistan have scripted one of the great futsal fairy tales by reaching the global showpiece for the very first time.
After raising eyebrows by pushing powerhouse Iran in their opening match and then progressing from the group, the Afghans were involved in a triple Central Asian tangle that ultimately saw them reach the FIFA Futsal World Cup.
Defeat at the hands of Tajikistan in the first of the quarter-finals looked to have marked the end for the daring debutantes only for World Cup hosts Uzbekistan to see off Vietnam in the last of the final eight match-ups to necessitate a play-off to determine the final slot at the sport’s showpiece event.
A 5-3 win against Iraq in the first round of the play-offs set up this winner-takes-all affair with a Kyrgyz Republic outfit also eyeing a maiden World Cup berth.
Settling the better of the two teams, it was a ninth-minute Omid Qanbari effort that sent Afghanistan to the break with a narrow lead; one that they would double nine minutes after the restart as an own goal from Mukhamed Askarbekov made it 2-0.
A frantic ten-minute period then produced six goals but with the Kyrgyz Republic always chasing the match, the Afghans never looked too troubled, with two late, long-range, goals from captain Mahdi Norowzi and Mehran Gholami capping off the impressive 5-3 win.
The FIFA Futsal World Cup is an international futsal competition contested by the senior men’s national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport’s global governing body.
Since the first edition that took place in 1989 in the Netherlands, the tournament has been held every four years since 1992.
The current champions are Portugal, who won their first world title after beating the 2016 defending champions Argentina in the final of the 2021 tournament in Lithuania.
Afghanistan qualified for the 2024 Futsal World Cup after 5-3 victory against Kyrgyzstan in the Playoff 3 of AFC Futsal Asian Cup in Bangkok on Sunday.
This is the first time that Afghanistan qualifies for the Futsal World Cup.
The tenth edition of Futsal World Cup is scheduled to start on September 14, 2024 in Uzbekistan.
Twenty-four teams will participate in the tournament.
Afghanistan, France, New Zealand and Tajikistan will make their debuts.
Mawj Sahil defeated Sarsabz Yashlar 2-1 in the 15th match of Afghanistan Champions League in Kabul on Saturday, while Sorkh Poshan hammered Maiwand 6-0 in the 16th match of the tournament on the same day.
Sanan Rahimi and Esmatullah Hadafmand scored the two goals for Mawj Sahil.
Yashlar’s only goal was scored by Mohammad Nasir Niazi.
Sorkh Poshan’s six goals against Maiwand were scored by Habibullah Hotak (1), Samir Mirzai (1), Hamir Amiri (1), Omid Rajabi (2) and captain Farhad Alizada (1).
Sunday’s matches will see Istiqlal Kabul take on Adalat Farah at 1:00 PM, and Khadim face Jawanan Wahedi at 3:30 PM.
The matches are broadcast live on Ariana Television.
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