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Player of the Match
Player of the Match

Ireland five wickets away from title

Afghanistan 182 and 136 for 5 (Shahzad 39, Dockrell 3-28) need 211 runs to beat Ireland 187 (Anderson 55, Zadran 4-44) and 341 (N O'Brien 87, Nabi 4-38)
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Ireland are five wickets away from regaining the ICC Intercontinental Cup in Dubai, having set defending champions Afghanistan a stiff target and then reducing them to 136 for 5 in the chase. Left-arm spinner George Dockrell struck three blows to leave Afghanistan struggling, still 211 short of the target at the end of the third day.

Ireland were 159 for 2 in their second innings at the start of play, with Ed Joyce on 74 and Niall O'Brien on 40, but their 110-run stand ended in the first over, when Joyce was bowled for 78. O'Brien and Andrew White almost took Ireland to 250 with their partnership of 81, but once White fell for 39, Ireland lost three more wickets for 24 runs, including O'Brien for 87.

Kevin O'Brien and Trent Johnston chipped in with useful scores before Mohammad Nabi took the last three wickets to finish with 4 for 38. Ireland had posted 341, leaving Afghanistan to chase 346 for victory.

Afghanistan lost their opener Shabir Noori to Johnston in the first over of the chase before Nawroz Mangal and Mohammad Shahzad steadied the innings. Their stand, however, added only 57 runs - John Mooney broke it - after which Dockrell took three wickets in the space of 10 runs to reduce Afghanistan to 85 for 5. Nabi and Rahmat Shah put on an unbeaten stand of 51, but the task ahead of them on the fourth day was a tough one.

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  • Mooney's ten gives Ireland title

    John Mooney took his second five-wicket haul of the match to help Ireland to their fourth Intercontinental Cup title, beating Afghanistan by 122 runs in Dubai

  • Ireland five wickets away from title

    Ireland are five wickets away from regaining the ICC Intercontinental Cup with two days to spare as defending champions Afghanistan still need 211 runs in Dubai

  • Mooney, Joyce put Ireland ahead

    Allrounder John Mooney's maiden first-class five-for and an unbeaten half-century from Ed Joyce helped Ireland reach a strong position against Afghanistan

  • Dawlat puts Afghanistan on top

    Four wickets for Dawlat Zadran put Afghanistan on the front foot against Ireland after the first day's play in Dubai

Afghanistan 4th innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st8Shabir NooriNawroz Mangal
2nd57Nawroz MangalMohammad Shahzad
3rd10Mohammad ShahzadRahmat Shah
4th10Asghar StanikzaiRahmat Shah
5th0Afsar ZazaiRahmat Shah
6th114Mohammad NabiRahmat Shah
7th13Samiullah ShinwariRahmat Shah
8th6Mirwais AshrafRahmat Shah
9th4Dawlat ZadranRahmat Shah
10th2Izatullah DawlatzaiRahmat Shah