Twitter Reactions: A fabulous century from Andrew Balbirnie jolts the Afghans

That fightback from Balbirnie, despite all the odds against him, was terrific to watch.

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Andrew Balbirnie
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Andrew Balbirnie. (Photo Source: Twitter)

For the first time on this tour, Ireland managed to overpower Afghanistan. After having struggled throughout, Andrew Balbirnie came out as the Messiah for the visitors in the third ODI. He registered his second ODI century in the match and was at the helm of this massive turnaround.

Along with George Dockrell, he put up a 143-run partnership and was fabulous in this tricky chase. This victory not only brings a huge sigh of relief for Ireland but also keeps the series alive. With two more games to go and series level at 1-1, both the teams will try to push hard for a win. However, it won’t be such an easy task for the Irish men and they will have to continue to be at the top of their game.

Najibullah Zadran scores a ton against the run of play

After winning the toss and opting to bat first, Afghanistan was reduced to 74/5 within no time. The bowlers were on fire and they dismissed Mohammad Shahzad, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi and Samiullah Shenwari cheaply. Hazratullah Zazai, after looking good for his 34, was dismissed run out. The hosts seemed to be in all sorts of trouble at this point in time.

However, skipper Asghar Afghan along with Najibullah Zadran took things in his control. The duo added 117 runs together and bailed the side out of trouble. But, Asghar got out after piling up 75 runs. It seemed tough for Afghanistan to get to a decent total. But, Zadran accelerated towards the end and remained unbeaten on 104 as the home team finished with 256 runs on the board.

That was a superlative innings from Andrew Balbirnie

Ireland team was also met with a similar fate in the chase. They were brought down to 29/3 and were further reduced to 73/4. William Porterfield, Paul Stirling, Kevin O’Brien – all gave up. But, Andrew Balbirnie and George Dockrell weren’t to throw the towel in as easily. They fought back hard raising Ireland’s hopes of registering a win.

Dockrell played the anchor and was out stumped when he was on 54. Stuart Poynter also in the next over and there was immense pressure on Balbirnie. He had to score most of the last 40 runs all by himself. But, he didn’t let the heat take over him. He maintained his calm and played glorious cricketing shots and was unbeaten on 145 off 136 balls as Ireland registered a four-wicket win.

Twitterati approbated the talent Andrew Balbirnie was and drenched him in praise. They also applauded the Irish bowlers for keeping it tight and preventing Afghanistan from putting up a big total. George Dockrell received an equal amount of applause as well.

Here is how Twitterati reacted:

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