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Highest Match Aggregate Involving Afghanistan vs Ireland in ODIs:

644 Runs, Belfast, 2026, Today*

642 Runs, Greater Noida, 2017

585 Runs, Sharjah, 2024

Sediqullah Atal (Player of the Match): (On scoring a century on his birthday) "First of all, I'm very happy with the way I performed and the way our team performed and won the series. I was quite sure that I would make a good beginning in these two games, but Alhamdulillah, I did it on this special day. I will remember this for a long, long time, for a lifetime. I'm quite happy with that.

(On his partnership with Ibrahim Zadran) We spoke with each other. Everyone knows that Ibrahim has more experience and has played a lot of cricket. He told me that the ball would seam and swing a lot, but I should just stay positive, focus on the present, and not think about the previous ball or the next ball. Just focus on the ball that's coming towards me. It helped me a lot.

(On Afghanistan's recent success in ODIs) We have practised and worked so hard over the last couple of years because we had a very good World Cup in 2023. Now the expectations from all the fans and our team management are very high. We work according to that, and we work very hard to beat big teams in big events as well. We just focus more than before and keep becoming more professional."

Paul Stirling (Ireland Captain): "[On the result today] I think full credit to Afghanistan. That second wicket partnership in the first innings really took the game away from us. They had the opportunity to bat us out of the game. They effectively did that.

[On the positives] I think they were 1 for 270-280. We clawed it back really well. Once we took those two wickets, we actually did really well. At the backend of our innings with the bat we saw how many runs can be scored quickly. We just fell short. It is frustrating over the three games that we did well in patches and not entirely.

[Approach while chasing a big total] That's the fun of it. You have to adapt. You can be chasing 200, you can be chasing 350. Generally, I like to take the positive option and take on the bowlers. The wicket offered a bit to the bowlers. Usually in a 350 chase you feel that the wicket is completely flat. Well, it was not, I felt like I had to take some of the risk today. It was starting to work but then I got out."

Rahmat Shah (Afghanistan Captain): (On Afghanistan's highest ODI total) "I think Sediqullah Atal and Ibrahim Zadran played really well. They assessed the conditions early. Before we came here, we had a target of making 300 or more runs, so finally, we achieved that target.

(On batting at No. 8) Usually, I come in the top order, but I think it was according to the team's requirement. We just wanted to keep the momentum going till the end, so that's why my number was a little bit lower.

(On the second-wicket partnership) I think, as I already mentioned, they assessed the conditions very well. They didn't try too hard. They just played their own game, waited for the loose balls, and kept building partnerships.

(On Ireland reaching 301 after losing early wickets) Balbirnie played really well, and his partnership with Curtis Campher was also very good. In the middle, we took early wickets, so at that time they broke our momentum. We just wanted to continue that momentum, and that's why we were averaging around 10 to 11 runs per over. It's really hard on this pitch, especially when you don't have wickets in hand, so that's why it was a little bit harder."

Afghanistan continue their dominance on Ireland in the ODI format. They have sealed another series win and quite comfortably at that. As Paul Stirling mentioned, Ireland were in with a chance in patches but could not capitalize entirely. Rahmat Shah starts off his ODI captaincy career in style.

On this note, I, Manan Mehta would like to take you leave on behalf of my colleagues Dev Rajawat, Yogesh Kumar and Aman. B-byeee!!!