Fast bowler Dawlat Ahmadzai took a career-best 5-52 to bowl Afghanistan to a stunning seven-wicket victory over defending champion Ireland on the fourth and last day of the first-class ICC Intercontinental Cup 2009-10 match in Dambulla on Sunday.
Ireland had started the day at 39-0 and still required 30 runs to wipe off the first innings deficit. But the reigning champion was bowled out for 202 that left Afghanistan an easy victory target of 134 runs in a minimum of 34 overs.
Afghanistan, after a slow start, batted aggressively to achieve victory in the 32nd over and with seven wickets to spare. Opener Noor Ali scored his second half-century of the match when he fell after scoring 57 from 75 balls that included six fours and a six.
When Noor departed, Afghanistan needed 34 runs from a minimum of nine overs for its second victory in the tournament which it achieved without any further hiccups as Mohammad Shahzad finished unbeaten on 42 and captain Nowroz Mangal remained 16 not out.
The defeat ended Ireland's 18-match unbeaten run with its only other defeat at this level being in the inaugural event in August 2004 when it lost to Scotland by eight wickets. In the 18 matches before this game, Ireland had won 11 matches, including five by an innings margin.
The star of the day was the 25-year-old Dawlat who had gone wicketless in Ireland's first innings score of 404. Dawlat rattled the top order with pace and controlled line and length to pick up the prized scalps of William Porterfield (14), Gary Wilson (27), Alex Cusack (4), John Mooney (18) and Gary Kidd (0).
Dawlat was very well supported by off-spinner Mohammad Nabi who followed up his 64 with the bat with figures of 22.3-11-33-4. Nabi's victims included Andre Botha (27), Kevin O'Brien (three), Andrew White (four) and last-man Peter Connel (10).
It was Nabi's brilliant spell in the middle of the innings which broke the back of Ireland's middle-order as it lost four wickets for 10 runs in the space of 10 overs to slip from 91-3 to 101-7.
Ireland had looked dead and buried when it was further reduced to 143-9 to lead Afghanistan by just 74 runs with nearly half the day's play remaining.
At that stage, former captain Trent Johnston held the sinking ship together and in association with Connell not only added 59 runs for the 10th wicket but also consumed 13 overs in 54 minutes which gave Ireland an outside chance in the match.
Johnston remained unbeaten on 63, an innings that came off 91 balls after 133 minutes of batting and included seven fours and a six. Connell, who had featured in a 66-run 10th wicket partnership with Mooney in the first innings, once again showed his effectiveness with the bat when he survived 36 balls and in the meantime, hit two fours.
Afghanistan earned a maximum of 20 points from the match which has put it on top of the table with 43 points, 14 ahead of second-placed Scotland which takes on Kenya in its third match in Nairobi from Monday.
In contrast, the defending champion stays in sixth place on 12 points from three matches and in serious danger of missing out on the final of the tournament to be played in November in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Scores in brief:
Ireland 405 all out, 98 overs (William Porterfield 78, John Mooney 58 not out, Gary Wilson 53, Niall O'Brien 66, Andrew White 43, Alex Cusack 39; Samiullah Shenwari 4-75, Hameed Hasan 3-91) and 202 all out, 75.3 overs (Trent Johnston 63 not out; William Porterfield 27, Andre Botha 27; Dawlat Ahmadzai 5-52, Mohammad Nabi 4-33)
Afghanistan 474 all out, 153.2 overs (Mohammad Shahzad 88, Shabir Noori 85, Nowroz Mangal 84, Mohammad Nabi 64, Noor Ali 53; Andrew White 4-99, Andre Botha 3-44) and 137-3, 31.3 overs (Noor Ali 57, Mohammad Shahzad 42 not out, Shabir Noori 21)
Result - Afghanistan won by seven wickets
Points - Afghanistan 20, Ireland 0
Umpires - TH Wijewardena and Manmore Martinez
Scorecard available at http://icc-cricket.yahoo.net/match_zone/scorecard.php?matchId=32256
Forthcoming matches:
ICC INTERCONTINENTAL CUP
25-28 Jan - Kenya v Scotland, Kenya
17-20 Feb - Afghanistan v Canada, UAE
20-23 Feb - Kenya v Netherlands, Nairobi
10-13 Jun - Netherlands v Scotland, Netherlands
11-14 Aug - Scotland v Afghanistan, Scotland
11-14 Aug - Ireland v Netherlands, Ireland
21-24 Aug - Canada v Zimbabwe XI, Canada
1-4 Sep - Canada v Ireland, Canada
1-4 Sep - Netherlands v Zimbabwe XI, Netherlands
2-5 Oct - Kenya v Afghanistan, Kenya
6-9 Oct - Zimbabwe XI v Ireland, Africa
13-16 Oct - Zimbabwe XI v Scotland, Africa
25-29 Nov - FINAL (five days), UAE
