Twitter Reactions: Another Paul Stirling century goes in vain as Afghanistan clean sweeps 3-0

Afghanistan claimed 30 ODI Super League points through the 3-0 clean-sweep.

By Pratyay Tiwari

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Afghanistan. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Another one of Paul Stirling’s obstinate knock went in vain after Afghanistan managed to curtail Ireland 36 runs short in a chase of 266 at Abu Dhabi, in the third and final ODI of the series. Winning the delayed toss (due to dim light), Ireland opted to put in Afghanistan.

The decision instantly backfired for skipper Andy Balbirnie as Rahmanullah Gurbaz assaulted Craig Young for 18 runs in the opening over – dot, 4, dot, 6, 4, 4. Although, Craig Young had the last laugh as he rattled Gurbaz’s stumps, to give his team an early strike. Javed Ahmadi (19 from 10), who started positively, hitting Mark Adair for a six and four in the second over, picked successive boundaries off Young in the fifth, before picking Mark Adair at mid-off.

Rashid’s cameo after Asghar’s rebuild saves Afghanistan

After being taken for a toss, Young pushed the Afghans in a spot of bother as he struck in the same over, this time to remove Rahmat Shah, who miscued a drive towards the man at point. Ireland managed to put a lid on the scoring as Asghar Afghan stood up to rebuild the innings with Mohammad Nabi after McBrine got Hashmatullah Shahidi to edge in the slips.

Nabi (32 from 54) and Afghan (41 from 82) spent 91 balls together, adding 51 in the process, however, Simi Singh removed both the batsmen as he trapped Nabi LBW and got Afghan playing straight into the hands of deep midwicket. While Gulbadin Naib scored a handy 36 from 44 before falling as Simi Singh’s third, Najibullah Zadran fell as Harry Tector’s maiden ODI scalp, caught in the slips for a duck, to leave his side 163 for 7.

It was once again Rashid Khan’s brisk scoring – he scored 48 from with three fours and as many sixes – that led Afghanistan forward. Adding 22 from the last 11 deliveries after Rashid’s dismissal, Mujeeb ur Rahman (18 from 18) and Naveen ul Haq (10 from 7) joined forces to set 267 for Ireland to win.

Stirling’s ton in vain, again

Replacing an out-of-form Kevin O’Brien at the top, James McCollum could score only 3 before being pinned LBW by Mujeeb ur Rahman. Andy Balbirnie joined Paul Stirling, who seemed unstoppable with the bat. Such was his dominance that he accounted for 52 runs of the total 62 that Ireland had reached by the 10th over, which is when Balbirnie was caught behind off Nabi.

Stirling got some company from Harry Tector, as the duo added 61 from 65 for the third wicket, although, foxed by a Rashid Khan googly, Tector was cleaned up for 24. Bogged by the consistent fall of wickets, Ireland started to lose its way in the chase as the required rate kept climbing. Curtis Campher’s brief 12-run outing was ended by Rashid Khan, who got his third scalp when another googly tricked Lorcan Tucker (22 from 35).

Ireland’s hopes finished when Stirling, who got to his century in 101 balls, edged Mujeeb ur Rahman onto his stumps after scoring 118 from 119 with nine fours and six maximums. Naveen ul Haq pinned McBrine LBW for 14, whereas Rashid picked Craig Young for a golden duck to dismiss Ireland for 230 as Afghanistan claimed 30 ODI Super League points through the 3-0 clean-sweep.

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