Intercontinental Cup Final Preview
10th of December 2013
The final of the intercontinental cup is set to begin in a few hours time. This is the premier Associate and Affiliate tournament in world cricket. The Irish who wish to press their claim for Test status would love to establish their dominance at this level after a mediocre performance in the last edition by their own lofty standards, finishing fourth.
Ireland and Afghanistan clearly the premier Associate nations at the moment: 1st and 2nd in the World Cricket League Championship and 1st and 2nd in the World T20 Qualifier. On both of those occasions Ireland were still a class above the Afghans.
The Rankings
However having said that, Afghanistan are the defending champions and are rated above the Irish in the only Associate/Affiliate Multi Day ranking system: Shane Booth’s System.
Shane Booth’s Ranking System
|
Country |
Multi-Day |
One Day |
Twenty20 |
|||
|
Rank |
Points |
Rank |
Points |
Rank |
Points |
|
|
Ireland |
12 |
5955 |
10 |
6393 |
9 |
6605 |
|
Afghanistan |
11 |
6001 |
12 |
5969 |
10 |
6508 |
The other major associate and affiliate ranking system, Alistair Gordon’s ranks the two associates like this:
Alistair Gordon’s Ranking System
|
Country |
One Day |
Twenty20 |
||
|
Rank |
Points |
Rank |
Points |
|
|
Ireland |
10 |
495 |
11 |
438 |
|
Afghanistan |
12 |
456 |
12 |
408 |
Both ranking systems show that the two are very closely ranked in all formats, but with Irish above them in every system except the multi-day ranking. But rankings again only tell us so much.
Intercontinental Cup 2011-13
The current edition sees both Afghanistan and Ireland on 5 wins with 2 draws. The two draws for both teams came against the United Arab Emirates and each other. Ireland take the advantage into the final having finished top of the table on points with 116 versus Afghanistan’s 104.
|
Country |
Mat |
Won |
Lost |
Tied |
Draw |
Points |
|
Ireland |
7 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
116 |
|
Afghanistan |
7 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
104 |
White 419 runs at 52.37 and Stirling 366 runs at 40.66 have been the pick of the batsmen in this edition for Ireland. Though due to players availability all the Irish batsmen have chipped in with runs at one stage or another. For the bowlers George Dockrell has been outstanding collecting 33 wickets at 16.57 whilst van der Merwe has picked up 20 at 11.15 in only 3 matches.
Afghanistan’s batsmen have not quite had the success that the Irish have had in this edition with Mohammad Shahzad being a notable failure having only scored 207 runs at 23 with only one 50. However Asghar Stanikzai has enjoyed success scoring 342 runs at 38 and Nabi also amongst the runs with 243 at 30.37. Their bowlers have largely won them their matches Dawlatzai claiming 30 at 13.36 and Dawlat Zadran 21 at 21.76
Head to Head
There have been two previous encounters between these two sides in this format the most recent being the draw mentioned above.
Afghanistan 84 & 7/208 vs Ireland 4/251 declared
In that match Ireland were the clear front runners in a match that lost days 1 and 2. Sorensen took 6 wickets for the match and Wilson 73 and White 62* were the pick of the batsmen. For Afghanistan 2nd innings 50s from Javed Ahmadi and Asghar Stanikzai saved the Afghans whilst none of the bowlers seemed able to upset the Irish batsmen.
Ireland 405 & 202 defeated by Afghanistan 474 & 3/137
Afghanistan won their first encounter in 2010 chasing the runs 3 wickets down in the second innings after Ireland posted 405 and Afghanistan 474 in the first innings.
Ireland vs Afghanistan
Leading batsmen
|
Name |
Country |
I |
NO |
Runs |
HS |
Ave |
100 |
50 |
%TR |
|
Wilson |
Ireland |
3 |
0 |
153 |
73 |
51.00 |
0 |
2 |
17.83 |
|
Mohammad Shahzad |
Afghanistan |
4 |
1 |
147 |
88 |
49.00 |
0 |
1 |
16.28 |
|
White |
Ireland |
3 |
1 |
109 |
62* |
54.50 |
0 |
1 |
12.70 |
|
Shabir Noori |
Afghanistan |
2 |
0 |
106 |
85 |
53.00 |
0 |
1 |
17.35 |
|
Nawroz Mangal |
Afghanistan |
2 |
1 |
100 |
84 |
100.00 |
0 |
1 |
16.37 |
|
Porterfield |
Ireland |
2 |
0 |
92 |
78 |
46.00 |
0 |
1 |
15.16 |
Leading Bowlers
|
Name |
Country |
I |
Balls |
Mdns |
Runs |
Wkts |
BBI |
Ave |
Econ |
SR |
|
Sorensen |
Ireland |
2 |
157 |
5 |
75 |
6 |
4/39 |
12.50 |
2.87 |
26.17 |
|
Mohammad Nabi |
Afghanistan |
3 |
334 |
14 |
159 |
6 |
4/33 |
26.50 |
2.86 |
55.67 |
|
Dawlat Ahmadzai |
Afghanistan |
2 |
156 |
6 |
84 |
5 |
5/52 |
16.80 |
3.23 |
31.20 |
|
White |
Ireland |
3 |
218 |
10 |
116 |
5 |
4/99 |
23.20 |
3.19 |
43.60 |
|
Cusack |
Ireland |
4 |
201 |
5 |
140 |
5 |
4/31 |
28.00 |
4.18 |
40.20 |
|
Samiullah Shenwari |
Afghanistan |
3 |
270 |
8 |
140 |
4 |
4/75 |
35.00 |
3.11 |
67.50 |
Prediction:
I think Ireland will be too good yet again and will add the multi-day format crown to their 50 over and T20 titles. With the Irish only needing a draw to win the Cup I think they will do it comfortably. With strike bowler Hamid Hassan out injured and the Irish with a strong batting line up the Afghans will struggle to take the wickets they need to win this match. I’m predicting the Irish will win this match outright.
Written by Llewelyn Scott-Hoy