The 2nd T20 between Ireland and Afghanistan was played in Noida, India on the 8th of March. Both these teams were comparatively new to the world of cricket and therefore it can be termed as a game in the interest of promotion of cricket in both countries. Afghanistan won the match by 21 runs and now have a 2-0 lead over Ireland in the three-match T20 series. Despite having an average squad, the Afghanis showed a great spirit in both matches which saw them victorious. Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat first. Despite having to face a slow start due to a sluggish pitch, Afghanistan scored an impressive total of 184 runs while losing 4 wickets. Asghar Afghan (49 runs in 28 balls) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (35 runs in 30 balls) delivered decent batting performances while Hazratullah Zazai and Mohammad Nabi scored 28 runs in 33 balls and 27 runs in 17 balls respectively. An average bowling performance was given by Ireland. Boyd Rankin, Craig Young, and Gareth Delany all bagged a wicket each. A target of 185 runs was forced upon Ireland to chase in the 2nd inning of the match.
A below-par batting performance allowed them to score a total of 163 runs in 20 overs losing 6 wickets. Only Andy Balbirine (46 runs in 35 balls) and Harry Hector (37 runs in 29 balls) delivered decent performances as none of the other batsmen were able to score more than 19 runs. A decent bowling performance was shown by the Afghanis as Mujeeb Ur Rahman took 3 wickets allowing only 38 runs in 4 overs. Trio Shapoor Zadran, Gulbadin Naib and Rashid Khan managed to take a wicket each as none of the bowlers allowed more than 38 runs.
The man of the match was awarded to Mujeeb Ur Rahman.