Having lost their opening World Cup qualifier against Afghanistan by 16 runs on Thursday, Ireland will look to bounce back against their old foes in match two of the three-match series in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Ireland's top order didn't fire as they could have for the second game running, leaving the middle order of Lorcan Tucker, Curtis Campher and Simi Singh the tough task of hunting down 288 to win.
Ireland came close, thanks to the heroics of Tucker in particular, who hit a career-best 83, his second half century, but with Afghan debutant Rahmanullah Gurbaz scoring 127 and Rashid Khan smacking 55 off just 30 deliveries, Andy Balbirnie's side will feel that they let their opponents off the hook in reply. Quite simply, their best batsmen didn't deliver.
Tucker, 24, made his debut in 2016 and has been first-choice wicketkeeper for the last 12 months, but he had a poor game behind the stumps, dropping two relatively easy catches that could have turned the tide in Ireland's favour.
Keen to make up for that, Tucker then posted his highest score as a batter for Ireland with 83 from 96 balls, striking three fours and three sixes in the run chase.
This was his second international half-century, and came after an 81-ball innings of 42 in the last ODI against UAE last Monday.
However Afghanistan hit 17 sixes in the game to Ireland's four and therein lies the tale of the match
"I think time in the middle really stands to you on wickets like this," said Tucker.
"I was lucky to get that time against the UAE and that gave me some confidence going into the opening game against Afghanistan. Whilst it was nice to get some runs, they don't mean that much if we don't get that win.
"I think we let ourselves down in the field yesterday. We missed several chances, myself included, that could have had a drastic effect on their total and thus our chase. As a group, we work hard on our fielding, so we hope that yesterday was a one-off and we can return to our high standards on Sunday."
Andy McBrine was Ireland's main success in the bowling department in the first game, taking 5-29 from 10 overs, with his fifth wicket coming off the very last ball of his spell.
"It was obviously pleasing for myself to get my first five-for for Ireland, but the result puts it more in a wee bit of a downer. It would have been nicer to get five-wicket and a win, but it wasn't to be.
"I’ve been practising quite hard for the last three or four weeks out here and lucky enough yesterday was my day with the ball."
There is room for improvement for Ireland's youngsters and Sunday's game really is a must-win.
The squad had a rest day on Friday, and will be back training on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s second match of the series.
UPCOMING FIXTURES
Afghanistan v Ireland, 2nd ODI – 24 Jan 2021: (start: 10am local time/6am Irish time)
Afghanistan v Ireland, 3rd ODI – 26 Jan 2021: (start: 10am local time/6am Irish time)
