Right then. Afghanistan's dominance on this tour continues. They thoroughly outplayed Ireland in the T20s. Ireland have put up a much better show in the two ODIs but still not good enough. Ireland's lack of strength in the bowling has hit them hard and that has proven to be the difference between the two sides, with Afghanistan's bowlers showing great mastery in these conditions. It has all been one-way traffic thus far. If the trend continues on Sunday, Afghanistan will have sealed the series, a reversal will keep the series alive. Join us on Sunday the to find out what happens. Until then, it's goodbye from all of us.
Haseeb: "Ireland yet so close but still so far. Welldone Blue Tigerzz"
Asghar Stanikzai - It was a high-scoring one-day game, but Shahzad started very well and that helped us. I know my strengths. Lalchand Rajput, our coach, told me to take my time because I have a lot of shots and that is what I did today. We want to go for long time and in the end we have the strength of our bowler so our aim is to take the game long. All credit goes to the bowlers as well.
William Porterfield - We would have liked to do more with the bat, quite a few positives from this game but we fell short. It is frustrating. My dismissal was crucial and we also lost a few wickets before that. And losing Stirling at a critical stage was also a big blow, so those were the couple of turning points in the game. I think we played good enough cricket to win both games, we are not far away.
Stirling - We came here to win, but unfortunately we could not do it. Nice to get wickets and runs on the board, bu we came here to win and could not do that. Rashid Khan has been the difference between the two sides. We were told that the umpires are always right. Fair play, respect the umpires, that's the way we have been taught to play the game.
Paul Stirling is the Man of the Match. Six wickets and 95 runs.
5.25pm What a clinical performance from Afghanistan. Ireland once again tried hard to make a game out of it but as in previous games, they could maintain that level of performance. This is something they seriously need to address. Game after game, they have turned out, shown the momentary spark of brilliance, threatened to take the game away only to fade away in the end. Rashid Khan and his googlies have spun quite the web around Ireland's batsmen. They have looked utterly clueless against him and credit to Rashid, too, for using the variations wisely. Six wickets in this match for him, following on from four in the previous game. And like in the first ODI, he had brilliant support from Dawlat Zadran who finished with three. Paul Stirling played a brilliant knock upfront again, and spare a thought for him. What a game he had. Took six wickets and struck 90, only denied by a wrong decision from the umpire. But more than missing out on the century, it is the loss that will hurt him. We will have the presentations with you shortly.
Krishna Tej: "I think they came back to hand over six for to Rashid. #WellDeserved"
PKD Chase b Rashid Khan 0 (6m 2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00
END OF OVER:47 | 11 Runs 1 Wkt | IRE: 303/9 (36 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 6.44, RRR: 12.00)
- George Dockrell9 (8b)
- Peter Chase0 (0b)
- Dawlat Zadran9-0-52-3
- Rashid Khan9-0-42-5
Free hit coming up
TJ Murtagh c Mohammad Nabi b Dawlat Zadran 5 (5m 4b 1x4 0x6) SR: 125.00
Tej: "Sitting in office and dreaming off Rashid removing Gayle,Kohli and ABD with his leggies n googlies in the first match of this IPL." Pretty sure Rashid is dreaming of that himself.
END OF OVER:46 | 6 Runs 1 Wkt | IRE: 292/8 (47 runs required from 24 balls, RR: 6.34, RRR: 11.75)
- George Dockrell3 (3b)
- Tim Murtagh1 (2b)
- Rashid Khan9-0-42-5
- Dawlat Zadran8-0-41-2
AR McBrine st †Mohammad Shahzad b Rashid Khan 6 (14m 11b 1x4 0x6) SR: 54.54
Rashid back for his penultimate over.
END OF OVER:45 | 5 Runs 1 Wkt | IRE: 286/7 (53 runs required from 30 balls, RR: 6.35, RRR: 10.60)
- Andy McBrine6 (10b)
- George Dockrell0 (0b)
- Dawlat Zadran8-0-41-2
- Gulbadin Naib8-0-52-1
Daniel: "An alternative view could be that Afghanistan are too reliant on Rashid. Without his bowling it looks like Ireland would have chased this down with ease. Still, they need to figure out how to play him, or bowl better. " Dawlat has been great too.
SR Thompson c Mohammad Nabi b Dawlat Zadran 37 (41m 25b 7x4 0x6) SR: 148.00