Ireland v Afghanistan: Irish have shown 'a lot of improvement' despite losing run - Malan

Ireland are hoping end a 10-match losing run

Ireland coach Heinrich Malan insists his side have shown "a lot of improvement" as they aim to end their losing run in Tuesday's T20 opener against Afghanistan.

The Irish have endured a difficult summer, losing their last 10 matches to India, New Zealand and South Africa.

Tuesday's match against Afghanistan is the first of five between the sides over the next two weeks at Stormont.

"The end result is always to try and get across the line," said Malan.

"That's why we play at the highest level. Unfortunately we haven't been able to do that, but I think if you look at the way we've played and the parameters we've put around our performances, there's still a lot of work for us to do in that space, but we've also shown a lot of improvement."

Malan added: "The carry we're trying to create with the ball and how we're trying to operate, there's some real improvement there and I think the brand we've tried to put out there as a batting group is really taking off as well.

"There's a lot of good stuff being done and I'm looking forward to keep seeing that improvement over these five games against Afghanistan."

'There is a lot of IQ in the room'

Ireland lost their last T20 series to Afghanistan in 2020

Ireland lost two T20 contests against India in June, before agonising one-wicket and one-run 50-over defeats by New Zealand last month.

New Zealand then followed their 3-0 one-day series win with the same margin of victory in the T20s, while South Africa completed a T20 double in Bristol last week.

Ireland lost 2-1 in their last T20 series against Afghanistan in 2020 and have won just four of the 19 meetings between the sides in the format, but Malan is hoping to use the "IQ" certain players have gained from previous encounters to the home side's advantage.

"We've got quite a few players that have been through the baptism of playing against Afghanistan over the last five or six years," he added.

"There is a lot of IQ in the room from our senior players so we've tried to tap into that as much as we can over the last couple of days after a quick turnaround from Bristol.

"[We want to] to just keep building on the performances that we've seen over a period of time. I'm sure if we keep being consistent in the space and understanding what that is from our point of view, we'll get across the line in this series."

Ireland v Afghanistan at Stormont (all times BST)

Tuesday 9 August, 1st T20I (15:30)

Thursday 11 August, 2nd T20I (15:30)

Friday 12 August, 3rd T20I (15:30)

Monday 15 August, 4th T20I (15:30)

Wednesday 17 August, 5th T20I (15:30)