Preview by AkshayaKrishna Polya:
After tonking runs for fun in the series opener on Thursday (March 7) at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Afghanistan and Ireland take the field again in the second ODI of the three-match series at the same venue on Saturday (March 9).
Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran set a strong foundation after being put into bat by the Irish skipper Paul Stirling. Gurbaz went on to score a brilliant hundred, while Zadran anchored with a half-century. Mohammad Nabi and Hashmatullah Shahidi went honkers and bonkers in the slog overs as Afghanistan raced away to 310/5 in 50 overs.
While star bowlers Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, and Craig Young were taken to the cleaners, Theo van Woerkom, who has less international experience, grabbed three scalps to give some challenge to the Afghan Atalans. Graham Hume bowled a decent spell but failed to stop the opposition from passing 300.
Fazalhaq Farooqi and Azmatullah Omarzai breathed fire with the new ball and broke the experienced top order of the Stirling-led side. Harry Tector showed immense calmness under pressure and didn't let the team crumble, getting a very good support from Lorcan Tucker. The Irish number 4 clubbed a daddy hundred, while Tucker fell short of a well-deserved 100 by just 15 runs. Once the partnership was broken by Farooqi, who returned with a four-fer, Ireland lost their way with a mountain to climb. In the end, they could only manage to score 275/8, losing the opening ODI by 35 runs.
Both teams still have plenty of room to improve. While Ireland need to improve its new ball bowling, death bowling, and top-order batting, Afghanistan need to ensure that it doesn't go wicketless in the middle phase despite the absence of Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
Can Ireland come back and keep the series alive? Will Afghanistan close out the assignment with a game in hand? To know, join us at 4 PM IST and 2:30 PM Local Time on Saturday for its live coverage!