Afghanistan beat Ireland to set up T20 series decider

Afghanistan 152-9 (20 overs): Nabi 59, Atal 35; Adair 3-27, Little 2-20, McCarthy 2-33 Ireland 142-8 (20 overs): Balbirnie 45, Delany 39; Rashid 4-14, Kharote 2-23Afghanistan won by 10 points< /em> Scorecard

Afghanistan collapsed to 14-4 early on in Sharjah after Josh Little and Mark Adair both took two wickets.

But Nabi's 38 innings helped the Afghans post a score competitive 152-9.

Ireland looked on course to win the series as they reached 49- 0 in 5.1 overs before the wickets collapsed and despite big late hits from Gareth Delany, they could only reach 142-8.

Skipper Paul Stirling was bowled by Nangeyalia Kharote and as Ireland rallied to reach 68-1, Rashid dismissed Lorcan Tucker and Harry Tector on balls successive to swing the competition in favor of Afghanistan.

Nabi then caught up and beat Curtis Campher before Kharote crucially trapped Andrew Balbirnie lbw after the Irish Test skipper reached 45.

The Irish looked set for a heavy defeat as franchise star Rashid bowled George Dockrell and Mark Adair to leave them on 95-7, but Delany produced late resistance by hitting four sixes in an 18-ball 39 before leaving on a delivery from Fazalhaq Farooqi, with Sediqullah Atal. taking the catch.

Nabi's innings included three sixes and six fours, with Atal (35) and Rashid (25) also making vital contributions with the bat after Little and Adair took Afghanistan's top spot.

Short bowling Rahmanullah Gurbaz will leave the Afghans at 6-1 with Adair dismissing Ibrahim Zadran and Mohammad Ishaq on successive balls before Azmatullah Omarzai goes for a duck off another short delivery.

< p class="" data-reactid=".cscwpuhmms .0.0.0.1.$paragraph-11">However, Nabi and Atal stabilized the Afghanistan innings with a vital 79-run partnership.

The final decision of the series will take place in Sharjah on Monday...