Afghanistan will take on Ireland tonight in their Group A match of the Desert T20 Challenge at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

The two top teams among Associate member countries have clashed on numerous occasions with Afghanistan going in “well prepared”, according to Asghar Stanikzai, the team’s captain.

However, Ireland captain William Porterfield is wary of his opponents but at the same time confessed that they know each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

Speaking on the sidelines of their practice session at The Sevens ground in Dubai on Monday, Porterfield said his boys are ready and raring to go.

"Our first stop is Afghanistan, they are a good team. They were in UAE before Christmas and played the hosts, but since we play each other frequently there's no real surprise thrown in there," said the captain.

“We got a big tour coming up in March. We go to India to play Afghanistan. It will probably be our first tour of that stature. We play three T20s and five ODIs against them, but for now our first goal in 2017 is to win this tournament,” Khaleej Times quoted Porterfield as saying.

Meanwhile, Stanikzai said during a practice session in the run up to the match: “We have a good advantage here because we have played a lot of matches here.”

He said the team is well prepared and fit and that they have been training hard for the past two months.

Stanikzai said the team’s aim is to win all their matches.

Tonight’s match starts at 7.30pm Kabul time.