The clouds thickened as wickets continued to fall, despite a flurry of sixes courtesy of Najeeb Tarakai who helped Afghanistan to post a strong total of 184 on the board.
The floodlights were switched on as the Irish team came to the crease to try and match Afghanistan's total. The nature of T20, in which each team has just 20 overs or 120 balls to rack up a score, means the batting team has to start quickly. Ireland rose to the challenge, hitting balls out the ground from the offs rain began to fall.
The bad weather appeared to slow Ireland's momentum and some good bowling from the Afghans left the away team with a target of 111 to achieve in 11 overs. With Ireland looking to hit out, the wickets began to fall as 18-year-old spinner Rashid Khan wrought havoc, gaining five wickets in the space of two overs.
