Player of the Match
Player of the Match

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"

47.3
W
Rashid Khan to Chase, OUT, now it is definitely game over. Six wickets for Rashid. Handshakes exchanged again and this time they are only headed out. No coming back. Googly from Rashid again, the batsman fails to pick it, plays for the turn as he comes forward to defend. The ball spins past the inside edge and crashes into the stumps

PKD Chase b Rashid Khan 0 (6m 2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00

47.2
0
Rashid Khan to Chase, no run, beaten outside off with turn
47.1
1
Rashid Khan to Dockrell, 1 run, drifting in and cramps him for room, beats the attempted cut

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
46.6
1
Dawlat Zadran to Dockrell, 1 run, full and on the pads, clipped away to midwicket

Free hit coming up

46.6
1nb
Dawlat Zadran to Dockrell, 1 no ball, and that will be the game. Dawlat takes four like in the previous game. Slower ball again does the trick. Handshakes and hugs all around the Afghanistan team. They check for a no-ball and from the first angle it seems as though he may have overstepped.This, after they have already started making their way out. And guess what! It's a no-ball. Game not yet over folks. We have a restart. Coming to the delivery, it was a slower short of a length ball and Dockrell swung across the line, misses it completely and the ball takes out the stumps
46.5
0
Dawlat Zadran to Dockrell, no run, short ball, slower in pace again and the batsman goes through with the pull shot too early. He had rolled his fingers over the seam and the ball goes off the very end of the bat to the wicketkeeper. Bounces in front of him though
46.4
W
Dawlat Zadran to Murtagh, OUT, tame dismissal. Full and on the pads. Tries to clip it and harmlessly chips it to mid-on. Slower ball from Zadran and the batsman does not pick and is done in by the lack of pace

TJ Murtagh c Mohammad Nabi b Dawlat Zadran 5 (5m 4b 1x4 0x6) SR: 125.00

46.3
4
Dawlat Zadran to Murtagh, FOUR, fuller ball on leg, backs away to make room and give himself the chance to open up his arms, launches it through mid-on
46.2
1
Dawlat Zadran to Dockrell, 1 run,
46.1
4
Dawlat Zadran to Dockrell, FOUR, fuller ball, driven off the front foot, gets all of his body behind that shot as the ball goes through wide of long-off

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
45.6
1
Rashid Khan to Dockrell, 1 run, floated up on off and driven uppishly but lands well short of the fielder at long-off
45.5
1
Rashid Khan to Murtagh, 1 run, moves the front foot back to use the depth of the crease before tucking this behind square on the leg side
45.5
1w
Rashid Khan to Murtagh, 1 wide, sprayed down the leg side, batsman misses the attempted late glance
45.4
1
Rashid Khan to Dockrell, 1 run, sliding in on the pads, pushed down to long-on and they take a quick single
45.3
1lb
Rashid Khan to Murtagh, 1 leg bye, tries to tuck behind square but gets it off the pads to short fine leg
45.2
W
Rashid Khan to McBrine, OUT, five-wicket haul for Rashid. And a phenomenal stumping by Shahzad. Googly again from Rashid and the batsman is opened up and walks into the shot as he looks to turn it away into the leg side. Shahzad does the rest, does not move an inch with his feet, just stretches out and reaches for the stumps but takes the bails off in a flash. The batsman wasn't even through with the shot when the stumping was completed

AR McBrine st †Mohammad Shahzad b Rashid Khan 6 (14m 11b 1x4 0x6) SR: 54.54

45.1
1
Rashid Khan to Dockrell, 1 run, short and wide, cut to sweeper cover

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
44.6
0
Dawlat Zadran to McBrine, no run, fullish ball, drops it into the off side and takes off for a single. Non-striker isn't all too interested and in the meantime Dawlat has run across and picked the ball up. He has a shy and misses the stumps at the striker's end as McBrine tries to get back in
44.5
4
Dawlat Zadran to McBrine, FOUR, edged and between slip and keeper. Advances down the ground and looks to whip this across the line, gets an edge and first slip dives to his left but the ball goes from beneath him. Dawlat can't be amused
44.4
0
Dawlat Zadran to McBrine, no run, short of a length ball, close to off, just defends it down the pitch and the bowler runs forward and picks it up on the follow-through

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.

44.3
W
Dawlat Zadran to Thompson, OUT, short ball, pulls and picks out deep midwicket. And it is Thompson, a set Thompson who had looked so good. It was the lack of room that had him holing out. Pitching on middle and leg and though he backs away slightly, he does not find the room required to effectively play that shot

SR Thompson c Mohammad Nabi b Dawlat Zadran 37 (41m 25b 7x4 0x6) SR: 148.00

Ireland 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st113EC JoycePR Stirling
2nd60WTS PorterfieldPR Stirling
3rd6NJ O'BrienWTS Porterfield
4th38WTS PorterfieldA Balbirnie
5th11GC WilsonA Balbirnie
6th50GC WilsonSR Thompson
7th4SR ThompsonAR McBrine
8th5GH DockrellAR McBrine
9th14TJ MurtaghGH Dockrell
10th3GH DockrellPKD Chase