AFG vs IRE: Weather Forecast and Pitch Report Of Melbourne Cricket Ground, ICC T20 World Cup 2022, Match 25

AFG vs IRE: Weather Forecast and Pitch Report Of Melbourne Cricket Ground, ICC T20 World Cup 2022, Match 25. Afghanistan will play against Ireland in 25th Match, Group 1 (D/N), ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at Melbourne, on October 28, 2022 at 9:30 am IST.

On 26th October 2022 (Today), Ireland is playing against England while Afghanistan will play against New Zealand later in the day. Ireland won by 5 runs against England by Duckworth Lewis Method as England scored 105/5 in 14.3 overs in reply to Ireland’s 157 before rain intervened. The par score for England was 110 at that stage.

Ireland would be disappointed for not making the most of the good start they got as they were bundled out for 157 runs with 5 balls to spare against England. Mark Wood (3/34) and Liam Livingstone (3/17) were the wreckers in chief for England as apart from skipper Andrew Balbirnie who scored 62, none of the other Irish batters contributed more than 35. Joshua Little dismissed both openers, Jos Buttler, for naught and Alex Hales for 7 as England have lost 2 wickets within the powerplay.

After an emphatic win in their first match against defending champions Australia, the Kiwis will look to continue their winning momentum when they lock horns with Afghanistan at Melbourne Cricket Ground after the conclusion of the England vs Ireland match.

While England defeated Afghanistan in their first Super 12 Group 1 match (14th match) by 5 wickets, Ireland were restricted to 128/8 against Sri Lanka in their first Super 12 Group 1 match (15th match). Sri Lanka chased the target comfortably losing only 1 wicket in the 15th over.

Pacer Sam Curran (5/10) became the first England bowler to take a five-wicket haul in T20Is as Jos Buttler led England beat Afghanistan by 5 wickets in Perth in a Super 12 Group 1 match. Chasing a modest 113, England crossed the finish line with 11 balls to spare.

Sam Curran’s five-for dismantled Afghanistan as England notched a five-wicket win in their opening ICC T20 World Cup 2022 match on Saturday. Sam Curran sizzled with a five-wicket haul, giving away only 10 runs, while Ben Stokes (2/19) and Mark Wood (2/23) picked two wickets apiece to bundle out Afghanistan for 112. Defending a modest total, the Afghans made a game out of it but England eventually completed the task in 18.1 overs.

England got off to a steady start with Alex Hales and Jos Buttler putting on an opening stand of 35 runs. But they suffered a brief scare in the middle as they went on to lose four wickets in the space of just 46 runs. Afghanistan could also sense that they were back in the game. But Liam Livingstone stepped up and scored an unbeaten 29 from 21 deliveries to guide England home.

While achieving a target of 113 was always expected, the manner in which England struggled, particularly against Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, and Mohammad Nabi, spoke of a few kinks still to be ironed out. The spin trio conceded just one boundary between them and emerged with a wicket each.

Brief Scores:- England 113 for 5 (Livingstone 29*) beat Afghanistan 112 (Curran 5-10) by five wickets

In the Super 12 match against Sri Lanka, Paul Stirling scored 34 and Harry Tector scored 45, but apart from them, none contributed more than 15.

Meanwhile, Ireland allrounder George Dockrell took part in the T20 World Cup Super 12 match against Sri Lanka on Sunday despite testing positive for Covid-19. Sri Lankan opener MOM Kusal Mendis scored an unbeaten 68 while the spin duo of Maheesh Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga claimed two wickets apiece.

Brief Scores:- Ireland 128/8 (Tector 45, Stirling 34, Theekshana 2/19, Hasaranga 2/25) lost to Sri Lanka 133/1 (Mendis 68*) by 9 wickets 

Ireland Probable Playing XI: Paul Stirling, Andrew Balbirnie(c), Lorcan Tucker (wk), Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, Mark Adair, Fionn Hand, Barry McCarthy, Joshua Little

Afghanistan Probable Playing XI: Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Usman Ghani, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Fareed Ahmed, Fazalhaq Farooqi.

AFG vs IRE: Weather Forecast and Pitch Report Of Melbourne Cricket Ground, ICC T20 World Cup 2022, Match 25

The Melbourne Cricket Ground-MCG pitch is considered to be one of the most competitive surfaces in the world. Everyone gets to play their roles at some point of time in the match. While pacers get assistance early in the innings, batters can play their strokes freely in the latter half. Meanwhile, spinners can make use of bigger boundaries.

According to weather.com, the temperature will be between 10-14 degrees Celsius on match day -the 28th of October, Friday. The chances of rain will be between 73-84%. Humidity will be between 75-80%. Winds will be from the West/ North West direction and variable (15-40 km/h). Light showers are expected to occur.  Winds could occasionally gust over 65 km/h.