Mohammad Nabi’s five-wicket haul helped Afghanistan defeat Ireland by 117 runs in the third One-Day International at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
Mohammad Nabi’s five-wicket haul helped Afghanistan defeat Ireland by 117 runs in the third One-Day International at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Tuesday. Afghanistan’s Hashmatullah Shahidi led the team to a 2-0 series victory after winning the first and final 50-over matches. The second ODI match of the series was called off due to weather. After winning the toss, Paul Stirling’s Irish team elected to send the Afghans to bat first. However, their decision backfired when Ireland’s bowling attack underperformed.
Afghanistan’s openers, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (51 runs from 53 balls) and Ibrahim Zadran (22 runs from 31 balls), combined for 62 runs and helped the hosts get off to a flying start.
Gurbaz scored 7 fours and 1 six for a strike rate of 96.23. Meanwhile, Zadran hit only three fours with a strike rate of 70.97.
Following the elimination of Afghanistan’s openers, Shahidi (69 runs from 103 balls) delivered an important knock to keep Afghanistan’s run rate intact. The Afghan captain hit 4 fours with a strike rate of 66.99.
At the end of the first inning, Mohammad Nabi (48 runs from 62 balls) was instrumental in propelling Afghanistan’s total to 236/9. He hit three fours with a strike rate of 77.42.
Mark Adair, on the other hand, led Ireland’s bowling attack with three wickets in ten overs. In the first inning alone, he contributed 51 runs. While Barry McCarthy took two wickets in his nine-over performance. Apart from them, Theo van Woerkom, Andy McBrine, and Harry Tector each took one wicket throughout their periods.
During the run chase, Andrew Balbirnie (1 run from 8 balls) and skipper Stirling (50 runs from 53 balls) failed to form an important partnership and lead Ireland to the target of 237 runs. Stirling, on the other hand, played a captain’s knock, but his half-century fell short despite hitting four fours and two sixes.
Later, Curtis Campher (43 runs off 63 balls) made a vital contribution. However, after being dismissed, no other Irish hitter could face the Afghan bowling onslaught.
Nabi’s fifer and Nangyal Kharoti’s four-wicket haul helped Afghanistan bowl out Ireland for 119 in just 35 overs. While Fazalhaq Farooqi only took one wicket in his 5-over performance.
Nabi was selected the ‘Player of the Match’ after putting up an outstanding performance with both bat and balls. Gurbaz, on the other side, was named ‘Player of the Series’ after scoring 172 runs at an average of 86.00 during the tournament.
