Taming Kahn key to beating Afghans : Porterfield
WILLIAM Porterfield claims that if Ireland can tame teenage wonder spinner Rashid Khan they will win the three-match oneday series against Afghanistan in Sharjah “comfortably”.
The countdown to the World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe in March officially starts tomorrow (1030 GMT) with Ireland’s first 50-over game against one of their main rivals for a place in England 2019, and Porterfield admits it could come down to how Ireland play the ninth-ranked oneday bowler in the world.
“The last two series have finished 2-2 and 3-2 to Afghanistan, so we are pretty evenly matched sides, says the Ireland captain. “The difference between the teams in Noida (in March) was Rashid Khan and, even then, we should have won the first game. The most pleasing thing was we were 2-0 down and we didn’t roll over, we came back to 2-2.
“We know Rashid is a very good bowler and if the lower order batters are exposed to him then he’s going to take wickets against any tail in world cricket, especially when conditions are in his favour, as they will be in Sharjah.
“It’s going to spin, we just don’t know how much, but if we get away with Rashid taking only one wicket in the top seven batters then we will be in a very good position.
“But it comes down to series mentality and by that I mean most of our cricket thus far has been competition-based. At World Cups, for example, you face someone once then you move onto the next team and the next team.
With the sheer amount we are going to be playing Afghanistan in the next few years we will know each other inside out and it will come down to who executes best on the day.
“So if someone gets the upper hand, whether with bat or ball, you have to combat it but Rashid is a very good bowler, it will come down to how we play him and if we negate him then I think we will win the series comfortably.
“On the other hand, If he has a good series we are going to have to play well round that to beat them.”
But Ireland cannot afford to concentrate all their energies on coping with Rashid. Afghanistan, remarkably, have three other bowlers in the top 31 in the world including Mohammad Nabi (No 16) who is ranked as the third best all-rounder and they also have a young off spinner who has come into the squad from the Under 19s and has just returned from the Bangladesh Premier League.”
Porterfield knows that this week’s action — the remaining games are on Thursday and Sunday — is a huge step up in class from the Intercontinental Cup game which they won with a day to spare in Dubai last week but he says winning breeds confidence.
“We felt we were behind the eight-ball after the first day against Scotland so to turn that round and win by 203 runs inside another two days gives you confidence,” he added.
Ireland can also call up Niall O’Brien, who has been back in the desert for five days — an obvious swap for John Anderson — but CIYMS leg spinner Jacob Mulder also seems certain to play on the spin-friendly surface so it could be a decision between Tim Murtagh (5-234 in 45 overs in the last series in India) and Peter Chase (4-216 in 30 overs) for the final place.
Skipper: William Porterfield