Afghanistan vs Ireland ODI Series: Interesting Numbers
The format changed, but not the Irish team's fortunes. Afghanistan team clinched the ODI series almost in the similar fashion they did in the T20I series last week. After their thumping win in the Twenty-20 format, Afghanistan started as favorites in the ODI series.
Afghanistan won the first game quite comfortably despite Tim Murtagh's brilliance, thanks to Hashmatullah Shahidi-Gulbadin Naib's 77-run partnership. Ireland bounced back in the second outing and leveled the series 1-1.
However, Afghanistan again outplayed them in the series decider. Ireland opted to bat upon winning the toss but their batsmen failed miserably. They were bowled out for 124 and it was never going to be easy to defend such a below-par total.
Ihsanullah's unbeaten half-century made sure that there was no chance for the opposition to bounce back.
Let's have a look at some of the interesting numbers of this series:
1041 - No. of total runs scored in the series ( Runs break-up: Bat - 983, Extras - 58)
79 - No. of fours hit in the series, Andrew Balbirnie hit the maximum no. of fours(13)
10 - No. of sixes hit in the series, Ihsanullah Janat hit the maximum no. of sixes(2)
0 - Not a single century was scored in the series
5 - No. of half-centuries scored in the series ( Afghanistan batsmen - 3, Ireland batsmen - 2)
64 - No. of runs scored by Gulbadin Naib in the 1st ODI, the highest individual score in the series
132 - No. of runs scored by Andrew Balbirnie in the series, the most by any player
66.0 - Batting average of Ihsanullah Janat in the series, the most by any player
136.36 - Batting strike rate of Hazratullah Zazai in the series, the best by any batsman in the series
227/9 - Afghanistan's score in the 1st ODI, highest team total in the series.
77 - No. of runs added by Hashmatullah Shahidi and Gulbadin Naib for the 4th wicket in the 1st ODI, the highest partnership for any wicket in the series
47 - No. of wickets fell down in the series
1514 - No. of legal deliveries bowled in the series
9 - No. of wickets taken by Tim Murtagh in the series, the most by any bowler
4/31- Bowling figures of Tim Murtagh in the 1st ODI, the best by any bowler in the series.
1.0 - Bowling average of Asghar Afghan in the series, the least by any bowler in the series
1.0 - Bowling economy of Asghar Afghan in the series, the least by any bowler in the series
6.0 - Bowling strike rate of Asghar Afghan in the series, the best by any bowler in the series
100 - 2nd match of the series was Afghanistan's 100th ODI appearance, the 14th country to reach the milestone
53.53 - Win % of Afghanistan team in One-day Internationals, 4th best among the international teams.