Twitter Reactions: Ireland thump Afghanistan by 72 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the series

A lot of people would’ve expected this result to go the other way, but it didn’t. Afghanistan planted their full-strength squad for the first time in Europe this summer and faced a horrendous defeat in the hands of the Irish. Both these sides thus far have had a unique rivalry and once again the fixture didn’t disappoint.

Batting first, Paul Stirling starred with a big knock for the side. Despite losing a couple of partners early in the innings, Stirling once again stitched a fantastic stand with William Porterfield. The duo added 99 runs together, with both batsmen completing their half-centuries. It seemed like they would get a big score at one point, but some quick wickets jolted the flow.

Rashid Khan and Aftab Alam bowled beautifully in the middle overs to restrict the run flow and keep Afghanistan ahead. Apart from Kevin O’Brien, no other batsman got going, which left him very alone. Eventually, their efforts didn’t reap the benefit it actually should have.

They ended with 210 runs on board and got bowled out with seven deliveries remaining. Dawlat Zadran and Aftab Alam picked three wickets each whilst Rashid Khan returned home with a brace.

Ireland put up a show with the ball

Since they started their summer fixtures against England, Ireland haven’t won any game in five attempts despite coming close on a couple of occasions. This was their first win of the summer and it came in emphatic fashion. The Afghan top order collapsed very early, making things easy for the bowling side to defend this moderate total.

The deck was beginning to provide some zip to the quick bowlers and the Irish feasted on it. Boyd Rankin started the demolishing process with Mark Adair joining him soon. The duo ran riot in the next few minutes and managed to pull out a couple of amazing spells. Apart from Mohammad Nabi, Asghar Afghan and Gulbadin Naib, no one got beyond the 20s in their innings.

With Mark Adair registering figures of 4/19, Boyd Rankin returning with 3/40, Afghanistan got bowled out for 138 runs in 35.4 overs. They definitely had enough time to chase down the total, but not composure. Ireland currently lead 1-0 in the 2-match ODI series.

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