Ire v Afg, 2nd ODI Review: Afghanistan beat Ireland by 39 runs

Afghanistan beat the hosts Ireland in the second one-day international by 39 runs to lead the 5-mach ODI series 1-0, after the first match was washed out without a ball being bowled.

Chasing 251, the hosts probably had the perfect start with the opening duo of the skipper William Porterfield and Ed Joyce adding 71 runs for the first wicket. They started cautiously with 43 runs off the first 10, but the partnership was broken by the experienced campaigner Mohammad Nabi. Nabi shattered Porterfield’s stumps to keep his team in the contest.

Ed Joyce played well for his 87-ball 62, before slashing a delivery into the hands of Mohammad Shahzad off the bowling of Mirwais Ashraf. Ashraf also dismissed Stuart Poynter for a duck, but Ireland remained up with the scoring rate until John Anderson was dismissed for 26.

Kevin O’Brien, who had scored a quick 35 and Nabi dismissed the dangerous Paul Stirling for 16 as Ireland’s hopes began to dip. It was Dawlat Zadran who returned to the attack to finish things off, dismissing McCarthy and Tim Murtagh to end Ireland’s innings on 211 with 10 balls remaining.

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Earlier, it was the Ireland skipper who won the toss and put the visitors into bat first. Shahzad gave them a great start with 79-ball 66 as they looked good enough to set a much bigger target while the openers were there at the crease, but apart from Najibullah Zadran (59 off 61 balls), no one made a valuable contribution as they scramble up to 250 in 50 overs.

O’Brien and Barry McCarthy picked up 4 wickets each for Ireland, whereas Rashid Khan and Nabi claimed 3 wickets each for Afghanistan.

Brief Scores:

Afghanistan – 250 in 49.2 overs (M Shahzad 66, N Zadran 59, K O’Brien 4/45)

Ireland – 211 in 48.2 overs (E Joyce 62, K O’Brien 35, R Khan 3/28)