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After five consecutive defeats in ODIs, Afghanistan finally get a win and lead the series 1-0. Ireland fought hard and the game was hanging in the balance when Tector and Tucker was at the crease but Afghan's pacers bowled exceptionally well at the back end to seal the match in their favour. Now, it's time to end the coverage, hope you enjoyed it as much as we did bringing it to you. Until next time, this is Pragadeesh signing off on behalf of Pradeep
Hashmatullah Shahidi (Afghanistan Captain): Yes, first of all happy with my team's performance. I was nervous. They played really well out there. Fazal bowled well with the new ball and we knew about the dew and told the boys about it. First 10 overs were important and we bowled well. Fazal bowled really well and bowled the yorkers at the end. Yes, they both are playing well Ibrahim and Gurbaz. They are playing positive cricket and doing well for the team. Hope they carry that on in the future as well and do well for our team. Thank You.
Paul Stirling (Ireland Captain)- They are the deserving winners because they played better than us. I don't think that the toss was a factor. The future of our ODI is looking good and we are trying a few players in this series. Tector has been superb with the bat and he is always terrific cricketer. I believe that we will turn the tables at the end of the series, forgetting the defeat."
Rahmanullah Gurbaz is the Player of the Match! Here's what he has to say: It was a good day for us, everyone played well and very happy. Always a pleasure to bat with Ibrahim, wicket was not easy, thought we should spend time in the middle and go big at the end. Ireland bounced back after early blows, credit to our bowlers with plenty of dew in the ground, they stuck to their plans and the game was good in the end. Feel excited for the hundred, never focus on the records, always try to contribute for my country, that's the most important thing for me.
Mohammad Nabi: Big partnership in the middle, wicket was strange with not much for the spinners with dew, wet ball, we tried our best and we kept tight, wicket to wicket and made it tough to score. Gurbaz is a brilliant player, after few bad innings, he showed he's got it at this stage in the ODI's. Tough to bowl with the wet ball, especially the yorkers and he delivered. So far going well, trying my best with my fitness.
Afghanistan won by 35 runs
We witnessed a top-class century and a splendid partnership but still Ireland fell short. It has a lot to do with their patchy start as they lost the top three cheaply. When things looked down and out for them, Tector and Tucker not only did the repair work but sucked the early momentum that the Afghans gathered. It's wasn't free-flowing in the middle but both read the situation and looked more assured with their approach
They took the game deep but didn't do enough damage after the second drinks break against the spinners. Tector scored a splendid ton and just when it looked Tucker was reaching closer to the three-figure score, Farooqi broke the stand to gain his team an upper hand
Soon after, Tector batted like a lone-warrior but he didn't get much impactful support at the other end. Farooqi's yorkers and Azmat's off-pace deliveries proved too tough to score boundaries for the Irish as they were outclassed by 35 runs. Tector was struggling with cramps and that really made things bad to worse in his pursuit to take his side home
50
overs
275/8score
1
1
W
2
1
1lb
runs
Graham Hume*
8(8)
Theo van Woerkom
3(2)
Gulbadin Naib
1/38
49.6 Gulbadin Naib to Graham Hume, THAT IS THAT! Afghanistan go 1-0 up in the three match ODI series! It's a comfortable win for Afghanistan in the end. Slower one, length delivery outside the off-stump. Hume swings and misses. Alikhil diving to his left can't collect it, they pick up a single.
49.5 Gulbadin Naib to Theo van Woerkom, takes the pace off again, back of a length on the leg-stump. van Woerkom looks to play into the on-side but misses, thuds on the pad and they pick up a leg-bye.
49.4 Gulbadin Naib to Theo van Woerkom, 2 runs taken