Afghanistan beat Ireland by 16 runs in the first T20 on Monday, August 20, 2018, at the Bready Cricket Club in Bready, Northern Ireland.

Even though Ireland is hosting the series, Afghanistan looks like a better team on paper. As per the head-to-head record in T20Is Afghanistan has won seven games, while Ireland has only won three games.

Final scorecard

Ireland 144/9 (18 ov, target 161) Rashid Khan [35/3]

Afghanistan 160/7

The umpires will inspect the pitch again at 4:30 PM local and decide on the next course of action.

Rain has delayed the toss. Stay tuned.

TV telecast and live streaming info:

  • India & Subcontinent: Sony Six, Sony Six HD, SonyLiv, Cricketgateway
  • UK: BBC, Cricketgateway
  • Australia: Fox Sports
  • South Africa: SuperSport
  • Ireland: BBC Sport NI, live stream on Cricketgateway.com
  • New Zealand: SKY Sport NZ

The match is scheduled to begin at 3:00 PM GMT, 7:30 PM AFT.

New faces in the Irish side

Cricbuzz reported that the Irish side has added two new faces to their bowling lineup, 20-year-old David Delany, who is yet to make his debut in international cricket and 18-year-old Joshua Little who has previously played for the national side two years ago.

The duo will join the far more experienced bowlers like Boyd Rankin, Stuart Thompson and Peter Chase, who did quite well in the series against India. Ireland hasn't been in the best form in the T20 format after they lost the series to India 2-0 in June.

Afghans to bank on experience

Afghanistan has a set unit. Their recent performances include a 3-0 T20I series win over Bangladesh in June. Even though the conditions might not favor them much, it should be noted that players such as Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi have been playing in the county cricket lately, which would've given them some idea of the condition in the United Kingdom.

The Afghani side is filled with all-rounders which gives some great balance to their side.

According to Cricbuzz, the Bready Cricket Club has hosted only one completed T20I, that too back in 2015, hence there is little that can be predicted about the surface.

But lately we have seen some good batting pitches been prepared in Ireland and we can expect that to continue in Bready. The weather forecast isn't the brightest, as there is a chance of rain in the evening.

Read: Ind vs Eng 3rd Test day 2 live streaming on Sony Six and Sky Sports Cricket

Also read: Sri Lanka vs South Africa 1st T20 live cricket streaming on Youtube at 7 PM IST