A gritty batting display followed by an exceptional bowling performance by Ireland saw the home side to a convincing victory over Afghanistan in the first game of the GS Holdings ODI Challenge at Stormont today.
Afghan captain Gulbadin Naib won the toss and sent Ireland in to bat, the visitors bowling attacked used the seam-friendly conditions to make early inroads.
The loss of James McCollum and the in-form Andy Balbirnie, both dismissed by Dawlat Zadran for 4, rocked Ireland early in the innings.
The experienced pairing of Paul Stirling and William Porterfield arrived to stabilise the innings and shared a 99-run third wicket partnership.
Stirling (71 from 94 balls) continued his rich vein of form this summer, having scored 77 and 130 in his last two innings respectively, while captain Porterfield (53 from 83 balls) scored his second consecutive half-century after registering 93 in his last outing against Bangladesh on Wednesday.
With Ireland sitting on 134-2 in the 34th over, the sudden loss of Stirling and Porterfield in the space of eight balls halted the home team's momentum.
A well-compiled 32 from 44 balls by Kevin O’Brien was the only contribution of note following this setback and Ireland were eventually dismissed for 210 from 48.5 overs.
In the Afghan attack, Dawlat (3-35) and Aftab Alam (3-28) claimed three wickets apiece, and Ireland appeared to have registered a below par score.
Seeking early wickets, the Ireland bowling attack led by Tim Murtagh (2-12) and Andy McBrine (0-17) opened with an impressive spell of tight bowling. Murtagh claimed two wickets early and the visitors were reeling at 19-2 by the ninth over.
With runs hard to come by, the pressure built on Afghanistan and further wickets fell with Mark Adair (4-19) picking up where Murtagh left off, removing Hazratullah Zazai for 14 and Hashmutullah Shahidi for 12.
A 54-run stand between Asghar Afghan and Mohammad Nabi threatened to rescue things for the visitors, but Boyd Rankin rustled up three wickets (including his 100th wicket in ODI cricket) to end the Afghan resistance.
They were eventually dismissed for 138 wins, handing Ireland a convincing 72 run victory.
Adair returned to clean up the final two wickets, finishing the innings with a spectacular caught and bowled effort.
Ireland v Afghanistan, ODl, 19 May 2019, Stormont
- Ireland 210 (48.5 overs; P Stirling 71, W Porterfield 53; A Alam 3-28)
- Afghanistan 138 (35.4 overs; A Afghan 29; M Adair 4-19, B Rankin 3-40)
Ireland won by 72 runs
