Ireland’s bowlers reined Afghanistan back in after a strong start, before persistent showers ruined what was setting up to be an intriguing contest in the second ODI at Dehradun.
Before the day’s play, Ireland handed a debut cap to the left-arm off spinner James Cameron-Dow. The 28-year old had deservedly been selected for the squad off the back of a sensational tour of Sri Lanka with the Ireland Wolves in January.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, Afghanistan’s openers quickly put Ireland under the cosh, adding 90 runs for the first wicket.
Hazratullah Zazai, who hit Ireland for a record 162* during the T20I series which preceded this one, demonstrated his form had not waned with a change of formats, striking his second ball, bowled by Tim Murtagh, out of the stadium for six.
He would go onto to strike another four maximums before McBrine claimed his wicket, enticing Zazai to top-edge a slog-sweep, allowing Andrew Balbirnie at slip to run back and take the catch.
One wicket brought another in the very next over, with George Dockrell dismissing Javed Ahmadi for 22. With Zazai gone, the set batsman attempted to take on the run-scoring onus himself, only to chip a catch straight to mid-on.
From 92-2, Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi added 87 to hand the hosts back the ascendancy. The pair lived a charmed life, only getting off the mark when they completed a single after a running mix-up, and surviving two dropped chances, one each.
The match has been called off. No play was possible after Afghanistan made 250/7 from 48.3 overs. We must wait until the third ODI on Tuesday to attempt to level the series.#AFGvIRE | #BackingGreen ☘️🏏 pic.twitter.com/sjwOGmMElg
— Cricket Ireland (@Irelandcricket) March 2, 2019
Dockrell took the fielders out of the equation, bowling Rahmat between bat and pad for 52, but was then hit for two consecutive boundaries by Asghar Afghan, as Afghanistan’s captain looked to make good on the strong platform laid by the top order. His stay was to be a short one, as McBrine bowled him off the inside edge of Afghan’s third ball.
That brought the explosive Mohammad Nabi to the crease, but Ireland manage to limit his damage to just the two sixes before Simi Singh claimed his first wicket, having the all-rounder caught on the long-on boundary as he attempted to go big for a third time.
Hashmatullah brought up his half-century soon after, but was dismissed the over after that, pulling Boyd Rankin down Simi Singh’s throat at deep square leg. Dockrell then claimed his third, pulling back his length after seeing that Gulbadin Naib was coming down the track - Naib missed, and Stuart Poynter completed the formalities behind the stumps.
Murtagh and Dockrell did well thereafter to keep the run rate down, until Rashid Khan hit the third ball of what should have been the penultimate over for six. Instead, that was to be the day’s last action as rain brought a halt to proceedings, and eventually washed out the contest.
Ireland’s bowlers had done well to limit their opponents after a strong start, keeping the boundary count in the last 10 overs to just two. The first four bowlers used – Murtagh, McBrine, Rankin, and Singh – all conceded less than five an over, and while Dockrell chipped in with three key wickets.
Afghanistan lead the five-match series 1-0.
