SHARJAH: Mohammad Nabi made a key 48 before taking five wickets as Afghanistan defeated Ireland by 117 runs on Tuesday to complete a 2-0 victory in the three-match One-day International series in Sharjah.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who made a hundred in the series opener, helped Afghanistan get off to another strong start with 51 off 53 balls before spooning a return catch to spinner Andy McBrine.

Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi struck a second successive ODI half-century, making a sedate 69 to keep his team on for a competitive total after they started to lose their way.

The 39-year-old Nabi offered key support but fell two runs short of his fifty as Ireland put the squeeze on Afghanistan in the final overs, restricting them to 236-9. Mark Adair finished with 3-51 while Barry McCarthy picked up two wickets.

Ireland lost opener Andy Balbirnie for one but appeared well set at 77-1 until skipper Paul Stirling holed out to long-off soon after reaching 50.

Harry Tector, who scored 138 in the first match last week, departed for three as he was trapped lbw by Nabi before the off-spinner removed Lorcan Tucker cheaply as well.

International debutant Nangeyalia Kharote had Curtis Campher caught behind for 43 and then removed George Dockrell and Adair in his next over as a calamitous Ireland collapse saw them lose five wickets for just two runs.

Nabi bowled McBrine and then cleaned up Graham Hume to pick up his first ODI five-wicket haul as he ended with 5-17.

Kharote dismissed McCa­rthy to return figures of 4-30 and wrap up a comprehensive victory after Saturday’s second ODI was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to heavy rain.

Scoreboard

AFGHANISTAN:

R. Gurbaz c & b McBrine 51

I. Zadran c Campher b McCarthy 22

R. Shah c Tucker b Adair 4

H. Shahidi lbw b Adair 69

A. Omarzai run out 4

M. Nabi c Tector b van Woerkom 48

I. Alikhil b Tector 2

N. Kharote c Tucker b McCarthy 10

AM. Ghazanfar b Adair 5

N. Zadran not out 9

F. Farooqi not out 5

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-3, NB-1, W-2) 7

TOTAL (for nine wickets, 50 overs) 236

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-62 (I. Zadran), 2-73 (Shah), 3-85 (Gurbaz), 4-96 (Omarzai), 5-193 (Nabi), 6-202 (Alikhil), 7-207 (Shahidi), 8-219 (Kharote), 9-221 (Ghazanfar)

BOWLING: Adair 10-0-51-3, Hume 8-0-40-0 (1w), McCarthy 9-0-42-2 (1w, 1nb), van Woerkom 10-0-46-1, McBrine 10-0-36-1, Tector 3-0-17-1

IRELAND:

A. Balbirnie c Alikhil b Farooqi 1

P. Stirling c Ghazanfar b Nabi 50

C. Campher c Alikhil b Kharote 43

H. Tector lbw b Nabi 3

L. Tucker c Kharote b Nabi 3

G. Dockrell b Kharote 1

M. Adair lbw b Kharote 0

A. McBrine b Nabi 0

B. McCarthy b Kharote 8

G. Hume b Nabi 5

T. van Woerkom not out 2

EXTRAS (LB-2, W-1) 3

TOTAL (all out, 35 overs) 119

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-4 (Balbirnie), 2-77 (Stirling), 3-93 (Tector), 4-101 (Tucker), 5-101 (Campher), 6-102 (Dockrell), 7-103 (Adair), 8-103 (McBrine), 9-111 (Hume)

BOWLING: Farooqi 5-0-23-1, Omarzai 5-1-13-0 (1w), N. Zadran 3-0-21-0, Ghazanfar 3-0-13-0, Nabi 10-3-17-5, Kharote 9-4-30-4

RESULT: Afghanistan won by 117 runs.

SERIES: Afghanistan won the three-match series 2-0.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2024