Afghanistan defeat Ireland by 117 runs in 3rd ODI to seal series

Afghanistan dominated Ireland in the third one-day international on Tuesday, thrashing them by 117 runs to take a 2-0 series victory in the three-match series contested in Sharjah.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who scored a century in the series opener, helped Afghanistan get off to a solid start with 51 off 53 balls before spooning a return catch to spinner Andy McBrine.

Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi scored his second consecutive ODI half-century, 69, to put his team on track for a competitive total as they began to lose momentum.

The 39-year-old Nabi provided crucial assistance but fell two runs short of a fifty as Ireland applied pressure on Afghanistan in the last overs, limiting them to 236-9. Mark Adair ended with 3-51, while Barry McCarthy claimed two wickets.

In response, Ireland struggled early, losing starter Andy Balbirnie cheaply. Although skipper Paul Stirling gave some resistance with a half-century, Ireland struggled to keep up the pace as wickets dropped often. Nabi’s spin proved to be the Irish batting lineup’s undoing, as he destroyed crucial batsmen and secured his maiden five-wicket haul in an ODI match. Debutant Nangeyalia Kharote also made an important impact, grabbing critical wickets to severely undermine Ireland’s prospects.

Ireland lost opener Andy Balbirnie for one, but seemed to be in control at 77-1 until skipper Paul Stirling holed out to long-off shortly after reaching 50. Harry Tector, who scored 138 in the first encounter last week, was out for three after being caught lbw by Nabi, and the off-spinner also dismissed Lorcan Tucker cheaply.

Nangeyalia Kharote, making his international debut, caught Curtis Campher behind for 43 before removing George Dockrell and Adair in his next over as Ireland collapsed, losing five wickets for just two runs.

Nabi dismissed McBrine and then cleaned up Graham Hume for his maiden ODI five-wicket haul, finishing with 5-17.

Kharote dismissed McCarthy for 4-30 and sealed a comfortable victory after Saturday’s second ODI was called off without a ball bowled due to severe rain.

Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afghanistan captain: “Very happy with the performance. Stirling and Campher were playing very well. But when I was batting, I knew the wicket wasn’t easy for batting. So I brought on Nabi. It was a critical partnership. Nabi and I wanted to take the game till the end. I told him to make it to the 45th over. We did it, and it was good. It was the first ODI pitch, and while we were batting, it was slower compared to the last game. When they were bowling, the ball wasn’t coming. Nabi is an amazing player. He always contributes. For other players, he is inspirational.”

Paul Stirling, Ireland captain: “We seemed to be in a pretty good position to chase that down. We were pretty happy with today’s performance. I can’t really put my finger on it. That is something we will think about in the next couple of days. I think there was a lot of dew in the first game. It didn’t come in today, and that probably cost us.”

Rahmanullah Gurbaz is the Player of the Series: “It was a great series for me, and my team as well. Not happy with the bat today because I had got set. But it’s an exciting moment as we won the match. I always try to do something better. We were focused more, and got the result as well. I want to dedicate this award to Nangeyalia, and all the best for his future.”

Mohammad Nabi is the Player of the Match: “Really happy to perform in those conditions. Five wickets after a long time – it has been 17 or 18 years! I saw Stirling hit a six, so in the next over I told Ibrahim to put mid-off back, and bowled wicket-to-wicket. I didn’t think about my fifty; I just tried to put a good score for the team.”

Brief score: Afghanistan 236/9 (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 51, Hashmatullah Shahidi 69, Mohammad Nabi 48; Mark Adair 3/51) beat Ireland 119 (Paul Stirling 50, Curtis Campher 43, Barry McCarthy 8; Mohammad Nabi 5/17).